THE MICROPUFF GIRL - A Novella
by OldFogey
Summary: A girl wishes to be a Powerpuff Girl, and the wish is granted. But when she gets to Townsville she discover there is a small -VERY small - restriction on her wish!
1. Introducing Andrea

Andrea and Natalie walked down the steps of Glenwood School. Their homes were only a few blocks from the school, so they walked home most days when the weather permitted.  
  
"Hey, Natalie!" Andrea asked. "Did you check out the Internet this morning? Are they showing a new Powerpuff Girls adventure this Friday?"  
  
"Nah," her friend replied, "they're rerunning the 'Rainy Day Adventure' and 'Just Desserts'."  
  
Andrea thought for a moment. "'Just Desserts'... what was that one about?" she asked.  
  
"Remember 'Supper Villain' with the next-door neighbors? 'Just Desserts' is when that whole family turns to villains and chases the Girls through their house in a car."  
  
The two girls were on their own street now, passing a wooded area. After a moment, Andie spoke up, "Hey, I got the new Powerpuff Girls comic book yesterday! The Girls have to fight this monster that's so strong it can throw cars and buildings around, but they can't find it!"  
  
"Why not?" Natalie asked. "Is it invisible?"  
  
"Nope!" came her friend's reply. "It's hard to see because it's only about a foot tall!"  
  
Natalie gave a little squeal, and both girls laughed. Then Andie nudged Natalie and said, "Nothing wrong with being kinda small!" Andrea was a head shorter than Natalie, who was very petite herself. They were the two shortest girls in the fifth grade, but the friends didn't mind teasing each other now and then. They could joke about their smallness, walking home with no one else around.  
  
Or so they thought.  
  
"Hey, Nattie," Andie said, "I was gonna study for the science test this evening. Want to come over and study with me?"  
  
"Oh, Andie, I'm sorry!" came Natalie's reply. "I've got soccer practice till--"  
  
Her words were cut short as two menacing figures stepped out from behind a tree. The girls stopped cold as they recognized the two as Derek Stiles and Betty Harper. "Just our luck," thought Andie, "running into the school bullies on our way home."  
  
"Well, well, well," sneered Derek, "if it isn't Andrea Ant and Natalie Gnat! Were you two walking home to your anthill or is there a shrimp convention going on here?"  
  
"Wha-What do you want?" stammered Natalie. "You already took our lunch money!"  
  
"Yeah," said Betty as she stepped up to Nattie, "that's what we're here for. The peanuts you've been paying us till now just won't cut it anymore. From now on, you want to keep all your teeth in, you'll have ten dollars for each of us every Wednesday."  
  
"TEN DOLLARS?" cried Andie. "How are we gonna get that kind of money??"  
  
Grinning, Derek walked up to Andrea. Staring down at the frightened girl, he said, "Well, shrimp girl, that's not my problem, now, is it?" He gave Andie a push that sent her sprawling to the pavement.  
  
"Leave her alone!" shouted Natalie.  
  
"Aw, what's the matter?" Betty asked. "Widdle baby Natalie go pee-pee in her Pampers? Maybe widdle baby Natalie run home so Mommy can change her!"  
  
Derek joined in, "Too bad widdle baby Andie not wear Pampers. They not make Pampers tiny enough for teeny-tiny Andie to wear!"  
  
The two bullies laughed as they walked off. Before they rounded the corner, Derek yelled, "Ten dollars for each of us, tomorrow morning!"  
  
Natalie stepped over to her friend. "Are you okay, Andie?" she asked as she helped her up.  
  
Andrea dusted off her skirt. "Yeah, no problem," she said, more angry than hurt.  
  
Neither girl felt much like talking the rest of the way home. 


	2. Visit from an unusual friend

"Andrea!" Andie turned from her science book to see her grandmother standing in the door of her room.  
  
"What's up, Grandma?" she asked.  
  
"Just making sure you got your studying done," the older woman remarked.  
  
Andrea nodded her head and replied, "Pretty much so. I'll be done in a few minutes."  
  
"That's fine," her grandmother said. "Better be getting ready for bed soon. You want to get a good night's sleep for the test tomorrow. Say, Andie, you didn't say much at dinner. Is everything all right?"  
  
"Sure, Grandma," Andrea fibbed. "Guess I'm just worried about the test tomorrow."  
  
As Grandma headed for her bedroom, Andrea put up her science book and got ready for bed. She hated lying to her grandmother or her mother, but she knew all they'd do would be to call the school and complain, and then the school would do something useless like put out a memo. And then, of course, Stiles and Harper would make things even worse for all the kids in the school.  
  
Andie lay down on her bed, leafing through her new Powerpuff Girls comic book. She couldn't get the events of that afternoon out of her mind. "Why do those two losers have to mess up our lives?" Andie thought. "Ours and everyone else's at Glenwood, that is." Andrea hoped Natalie's soccer practice had gone better than her studying had.  
  
The worst part about it was that Betty Harper had been a pretty good friend to Andie before this school year. Then she had had a growth spurt over the summer, and when school started back up she had fallen in with Stiles. Andie noticed that her former friend didn't bully her personally most of the time. Of course, she thought, that didn't excuse how she treated Nattie...  
  
Andie flipped through her comic. "Wouldn't it be great to have super powers like Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup," she thought. "I could sure teach Derek Stiles a thing or two!" Of course, she realized, the Powerpuff Girls are Kindergartners and she wasn't quite THAT short! But then, it wouldn't be so bad if she had all those wonderful abilities. Andie chuckled as she realized, the way her luck had gone, she'd probably be a really short Powerpuff Girl and the other three would stand head and shoulders above her!  
  
Andrea looked at her comic book one more time and sighed. It would be so terrific to be a Powerpuff Girl, even if she was really little.  
  
"Did I hear someone about to make a wish?" a tiny voice peeped. Andie looked up and gasped. There was a little, grey-haired old woman hovering beside her! She was perhaps three inches tall, dressed in a pink lace dress, with glittering butterfly-like wings on her back and a silver wand in her hand.  
  
"What-- I mean, who are you?" asked Andie.  
  
The tiny woman pulled out a card and replied, "My name is Florina, and I am your (reading from the card) 'vertically-challenged supernaturally-empowered female emergency caregiver'."  
  
Andie reeled at the mouthful the miniature woman had just read. "Is that anything like a fairy godmother?" she asked.  
  
The woman sighed as she tossed aside the tiny card. "Ah, life was so much easier before the King Fairy got on his 'political correctness' kick," she replied. The fairy floated to the head of the bed and continued, "I believe I heard you almost making a wish, my dear Andrea. Is there something I could grant you, child?"  
  
Andie replied, "I didn't think I said anything! Not out loud, at least..."  
  
"Oh, perhaps not, my dear," Florina replied. "But wishes have a voice of their own, and I heard yours loud and clear. Of course you might say my hearing is attuned to such things, whether they are spoken or not."  
  
Andie stared at Florina. She had read fairy tales when she was younger, of course, but it had been years since she had believed in creatures such as fairies. This was all so corny! But if this little old lady was offering her wishes, Andie wasn't going to pass the opportunity by! "You mean I can wish for anything I want?" she asked.  
  
"You may wish for anything you desire," Florina replied. "But remember, even magic has its limits. If you wish for something too great, I may have to place a limit on it for the request to be granted." The fairy godmother looked at Andie's comic book and suggested, "I see you like the Powerpuff Girls. Would you like to visit them and have an adventure with them?"  
  
Andie's eyes grew wide. "I'd love to!" she exclaimed.  
  
Florina held up her wand. "Then close your eyes," she said, "and in the blink of an eye you shall join them."  
  
"Just a moment!" Andie said quickly. "As part of my wish, I want to be a Powerpuff Girl myself!"  
  
Florina gave a little gasp. "Andrea, dear child," she said, "that is a very tall order! If I were to do that, I would indeed have to limit the wish to grant it at all! Are you certain this is what you want?"  
  
Andie wasn't going to let the chance pass her by. It didn't matter if she could only stay a few hours, or even just one hour; it would be worth it to be a Powerpuff Girl, no matter how short her stay was. She turned on the charm as she said, "Oh, Florina, I want this so very badly! Please, dear fairy godmother, grant me this wish, I beg of you!" (Andie could barely stifle a laugh at the sheer hokey sound of her own request!)  
  
Florina looked at her for a moment, and then smiled warmly. "I shall grant your wish as best I can, my dear," she said.  
  
Andie gave a gleeful squeal. "Thank you! Thank you!" came her reply.  
  
Florina raised her wand and said once again, "Now close your eyes, and in the blink of an eye your wish shall be granted!" Andie closed her eyes as Florina had told her to do. She heard a jingling, chime-like sound that she took to be the wand as Florina waved it. Suddenly, Andie felt as if she was spinning like a top! The world seemed to disappear around her as she lost all consciousness. 


	3. The wish comes true! (With one tiny adju...

Andie opened her eyes. She was in a forest, with gigantic plants and flowers around her and trees that looked as if they were miles high. Andie looked at how she was dressed, and let out a gasp. She was wearing a sleeveless yellow jumper with a wide black stripe at the waist.  
  
"Oh my goodness!" Andie thought. "Is it possible?"  
  
Andrea stretched out her arms and jumped into the air. She traveled up for what seemed a foot... and kept going! The girl's heart was pounding like a drum as she soared higher and higher into the air. She was flying!  
  
Andie looked at one of the gigantic trees. She had to know if it was really true! "Oh, boy," she exclaimed to no one in particular, "if I'm wrong this is gonna be the shortest adventure ever!" A second later, she stretched out her left arm, pulled in her right leg, and flew into the tree trunk as fast as she could!  
  
There was no pain as Andie flew into the tree, but there was plenty of wood splintering around her. Andie flew deeper into the wood, effortlessly boring a hole straight through the tree. Barely a second after she'd started, she emerged on the other side.  
  
Andrea hovered in the air, admiring the hole she had made in the gargantuan tree. She could fly! She had super strength and speed!  
  
Andrea realized her wish had come true. She was a Powerpuff Girl!!  
  
  
Andrea flew into the air, higher and higher, until the forest was a tapestry of green beneath her. She figured she must have been miles above the earth now, but she didn't feel tired or weary for her efforts. Beside the sheer joy of flying, Andie wanted to find Townsville to join her fellow Puffs!  
  
With the help of her telescopic vision, Andie located the Powerpuff's hometown. She figured she'd better hurry: If her time was going to be limited, she couldn't waste it lingering in the forest. Andie flew down until she was just above the treetops, and then headed in the direction of Townsville.  
  
As she flew, Andrea reflected on what she'd seen and done.  
  
Andie thought her yellow uniform complemented her long strawberry-blonde hair nicely. Perhaps yellow wasn't the color she would have chosen, but pink had already been taken; and anyway, she was a Powerpuff Girl! It didn't make sense to gripe over her dress color now.  
  
Andie figured the huge trees must have been giant California redwoods. It made sense; everyone said Townsville on the show was like Los Angeles was in real life. Andie had to reflect that the tree she'd flown through didn't look like the pictures of redwoods she'd seen; and besides, weren't the real giant redwoods in northern California? And what about those giant flowers and plants? Had she stumbled onto a place where Mojo Jojo was growing monster plants with which to attack the Girls?  
  
Andrea decided she could make sense of the trees and flowers later. Right now she had to decide on her Powerpuff name. "Let's see," she thought, "the name has to start with a 'B' and have a double letter in it somewhere..."  
  
  
The newest Powerpuff Girl was in Townsville in minutes. She located Pokey Oaks Kindergarten and flew down to look in on the Powerpuff Girls and their classmates.  
  
Andie drew near to a window, but stopped suddenly. The window of the building looked hundreds of feet high and twice as long! It was open just a bit at the bottom. Andie headed down to pull it open so she could enter the room. To her surprise, she discovered she could fly through the gap and into the classroom!  
  
The kindergarten was empty; Andie realized school hadn't started yet. Everything looked the way she had seen it on television and in the comics: the desks and blackboards were where they were supposed to be. But it was all so gigantic! She felt as if she was in a room designed for giants.  
  
Andie flew to Miss Keane's desk and found a ruler. Lifting it upright, she leaned it against a vase on the teacher's desk. Then she flew to the base of the ruler and measured herself.  
  
She was only two inches tall!  
  
It all made sense now. The trees weren't giant redwoods at all, they were ordinary trees. The flowers, the window, the classroom... none of them were huge. They only looked that way to Andie because she was so tiny.  
  
"FLORINA!" Andie called out. "Why did you shrink me like this?"  
  
The fairy godmother did not appear, but Andie heard her voice: "Andrea, my dear, I told you my magic has its limits. To send you to Townsville and give you Powerpuff abilities, I had to reduce your size a little."  
  
"A LITTLE?" Andie answered. "I thought you were going to limit my time here! I didn't think you were gonna make me the size of a bug!"  
  
"My dear," Florina's voice continued, "perhaps you are a bit smaller than you were. But don't you remember you wished you could be a Powerpuff Girl, even if you were really little?"  
  
Andie had to admit she was thinking that, although she was thinking of being the size of a small five-year-old and not the size of a small mouse! She also realized that, from Florina's point of view, Andie wasn't really all that small; she probably was about chest-high to the fairy godmother, just as a normal ten-year-old would be to a normal adult. Andie decided that, instead of complaining about things that weren't to her liking, maybe she should enjoy the things that were good.  
  
"Florina," Andie asked, "since I'm so tiny now, does this mean I can stay here longer?"  
  
"Why, yes, my child!" the fairy's voice answered. Andie thought she detected some new joy in the woman's voice, as if she was happy that Andie had accepted her wish. "You may stay here for much longer than just one or two hours. Perhaps you will have a number of exciting adventures with the Powerpuff Girls!"  
  
"There's just one problem, fairy godmother," Andie added.  
  
"What is that, my dear?"  
  
"If I'm gonna be this size, I think I'll have to find a better name than Battledroid!" 


	4. Encounter with Sedusa

Andie heard the sound of Florina's laugh at her silly comment. The sound quickly disappeared as the boys and girls of Pokey Oaks entered the classroom. Andie zoomed to the top of the bookshelf and watched the children take their seats. She gasped as the last three girls entered the room: there were Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup, floating in just before Miss Keane closed the door!  
  
Andie wanted more than anything else to meet the Powerpuff Girls, but wasn't sure how to do it. She certainly didn't come to Pokey Oaks just to spend the day watching them from a distance! If she just flew down to them without warning, though, they might think she was a bumblebee and try to swat her...  
  
Andie paused in her thought. Of course! That was what she'd name herself!  
  
The tiny girl's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the Hot Line. Andie's heart pounded as Blossom took the call. She was about to join the Powerpuff Girls on an adventure! As the Girls asked for permission to be excused, Andie got ready to make her move.  
  
Seconds later, the Powerpuff Girls flew off... and Andrea followed after them. As she caught up with the sisters, she heard them discussing their mission.  
  
"Where are we going?" Bubbles asked.  
  
"Sedusa is robbing the Townsville Gold Exchange," replied Blossom.  
  
"I'm gonna kick her right back into prison!" yelled Buttercup.  
  
Andie realized that the other three girls hadn't noticed her yet. She followed quietly; the time would come to reveal herself soon enough. She was glad her first adventure was against a real villain like Sedusa; she didn't want to spend her time opening the Mayor's pickle jar.  
  
In a flash, the Girls were at the Gold Exchange. Sedusa was grabbing up all the gold she could, knocking down guards and police with her living hair.  
  
"NOT SO FAST, SEDUSA!" the three veteran Powerpuff Girls yelled at the villainess.  
  
The three sisters flew towards Sedusa, arms ready to strike. Andie decided this was the time to prove herself, so she fell in behind Bubbles. She didn't know what she would do, but she wanted to be part of the action.  
  
Immediately there was a loud pop, like the cracking of a whip. Andie was slammed back against the far wall. She wasn't sure what had happened until a moment later when Bubbles pulled herself out from the wall. Andie realized that Sedusa had knocked the three Girls into the wall with her hair... and Bubbles had inadvertently taken her with her.  
  
"How do you like my new titanium-based hairspray, Power Brats?" sneered Sedusa. "Just a quick spray on the ends of my hair, and it's strong enough to be more than a match for you three!"  
  
"Right back at her, full speed!" shouted Blossom. Andie pulled herself from the wall as the other three Powerpuffs flew back at their enemy.  
  
Sedusa pulled out an aerosol can and taunted, "Perhaps you would like to sample my hairspray?" She sprayed the Girls as they reached her, and a silver-grey mist covered the trio. Moments later, the mist cleared. The Girls, coated with the silver spray, hovered in place for a moment. Then the three fell to the floor with a metallic "thud", frozen like statues.  
  
Andie's eyes grew wide as Sedusa laughed at the still forms of the Powerpuff Girls. "Did I mention that this spray is 'super mega ultra hold'?" she sneered as she pointed the spray can at the trio. "One more shot of this and you'll be my lawn ornaments forever!!"  
  
Andie swallowed hard as she realized the Powerpuff Girls were doomed unless she saved them. She launched herself from the wall at jet speed and grabbed the can from Sedusa.  
  
"What's going on?" came Sedusa's shocked voice. "Give that back!!" Andie flew in a zig-zag pattern, dodging her enemy's hair as it tried to grab back the can.  
  
Andie flew higher with the deadly spray, but stopped as she heard Sedusa laughing. Looking down, she saw the woman grinning at her. "Well, well, well," Sedusa taunted, "Just who are you? Thumbelina-Puff? What did the Mayor do this time, send in the second string?"  
  
"Good grief," thought Andie, "bullies are the same everywhere!" Her thoughts were interrupted as a strand of Sedusa's hair caught her from behind, sending her to the floor (and the spray can rolling away from her). Too late, Andie remembered that one of Sedusa's favorite tactics was diversion.  
  
"I'll have my lawn ornaments in a moment," Sedusa snapped, "but this little Powerpuff Insect wouldn't even make a decent paperweight. The only thing you're good for is... SQUASHING!!"  
  
Andie flew away as another strand smashed into the floor where she had been, cutting a hole in the tile. The girl flew to the wall nearby; not a second later, she flew away as the deadly hair crashed into the wall, leaving a gaping hole. Andie realized that, if that hairspray really made Sedusa's hair so strong, it might very well squash her in spite of her new powers. Maybe the Mayor's pickle jar wouldn't have been such a bad first adventure...  
  
As she dodged another strand of Sedusa's hair, Andie had an idea. She flew behind Sedusa, and then quietly floated around to the woman's right cheek. Andie saw the villainess' eyes darting back and forth, so she called out, "Yoo hoo!!" Sedusa saw Andie and grinned; but as her hair started to move, the tiny Powerpuff flew away!  
  
The titanium-reinforced strand smashed into Sedusa's cheek. "ARRRGGH!!" she screamed. clutching the side of her face. Andie hovered in front of her foe as a strand of Sedusa's hair grabbed the aerosol can. "You've been more trouble to me than you're worth, fairy girl!" the woman snarled. "Maybe you forgot that an insect like you can be sprayed as easily as swatted!"  
  
Sedusa sprayed her lethal mist... and Andie flew in a spiral around it, avoiding the spray itself. The miniature Powerpuff created a small whirlwind, containing the mist. It was now or never; Andie lifted the cloud into the air, turned it over, and directed it back at Sedusa. The mist settled on the woman before she knew what was happening. "No!" she screamed, "NOOO!!!" But it was too late. The silver cloud covered Sedusa, trapping her as she had trapped the Girls moments earlier. 


	5. Hello, my name is Bumblebee!

Andie sighed and wiped her forehead. "That was close!" she thought. She realized that her job wasn't done: she'd stopped Sedusa, but how was she going to restore the Powerpuff Girls? Andie remembered that most hairsprays lose their hold if the hair got wet...  
  
Andie gathered up the immobile Girls and carried them out of the building. There was a fountain not far from the door of the Gold Exchange. Andrea carried the trio to the edge of the water and tossed them in.  
  
As Andie waited, her Powerpuff hearing picked up the police preparing to haul off Sedusa. She couldn't worry about that now; all she could think of was her heroes getting back to normal.  
  
It seemed like hours to Andie, but was only moments later that Blossom's head popped out of the water. "Hey!" she sputtered, "What happened?"  
  
Then Buttercup appeared. "Yeah," she gasped, "how'd we get in here?"  
  
As the police carried out the stiff form of Sedusa, Bubbles bobbed to the surface. "And who captured Sedusa after she sprayed us with that stuff?" she asked.  
  
Andie decided it was time to reveal herself. She floated to the sisters, at their eye level. "I think I can explain what happened," she said with a grin.  
  
Bubbles' eyes grew wide. "Yikes!" she yelled, moving away, "It's a bee! Shoo it away before it stings us!"  
  
Buttercup retorted, "It's not a bee, Bubbles! It's a -- I mean, she's a girl!"  
  
Blossom's eyes were wide as she reached out her hand. Andie lit on it as Blossom corrected her sister, "She's not just a girl, Buttercup... She's a Powerpuff Girl! But she's the tiniest Powerpuff I've ever seen!"  
  
Bubbles moved back to her fellow Powerpuffs and looked at their new friend. "Hi, little girl!" she said. "Sorry I ran off when I saw you. What's your name?"  
  
The newcomer replied, "Well, in my own land I'm called Andrea... but here in Townsville my Powerpuff name is Bumblebee!"  
  
Buttercup cut in: "Your own land? You mean, you're not from here in Townsville?"  
  
Blossom added, "Where ARE you from, Bumblebee?"  
  
Bumblebee laughed. "Girls!" she said, "Let's go somewhere so your clothes can dry out! I'll tell you all about how I got here!"  
  
  
In Professor Utonium's suburban home, the three Powerpuff Girls sat around their desk in their bedroom. They had gotten on their nighties to wear while their clothes were drying. Bumblebee stood on the desktop, telling the sisters how she came to their world.  
  
As she finished, Buttercup asked, "So in your world, we're big heroes and everyone follows our adventures on television every week?"  
  
"That's right!" Bumblebee answered. "Well, some weeks there isn't a new adventure. But my friends all watch your adventures with Mojo Jojo, Him, Princess Morebucks, the Smiths, Bunny--"  
  
"BUNNY?!" gasped Blossom. "We never told anyone about Bunny, not even the Professor!"  
  
Buttercup agreed, "I guess you really DO know all of our secrets!"  
  
"Uh, Bumblebee?" asked Bubbles. "I hope you don't mind, but, is everyone in your world... 'little', like you?"  
  
Bumblebee chuckled and replied, "No, I got shrunk to this size when I went from my world to yours. It was part of the magic spell that I had to be 'limited' in some way if I became a Powerpuff Girl!"  
  
Blossom commented, "That sure was an odd limit Florina put on you, making you all itty-bitty like that!"  
  
"Yeah, I know," Bumblebee answered. "I thought she was going to limit the time I spent here, not how tall I was!"  
  
"So you're normal-sized in your own world?" Buttercup asked.  
  
"Well, I'm the shortest girl in the fifth grade at my school," the smallest Powerpuff replied. "But I'm not so small that I could walk into a mousehole! I'm just real, real short for my age."  
  
There was a knock on the door. To Bumblebee's surprise, Blossom rested her arm on the desk, blocking the smaller girl's view of the door. "Don't come in!" Blossom yelled, "We're not dressed!"  
  
From the hallway, Professor Utonium called, "All right, Girls. I'll just leave your dresses here by the door. Better hurry, though! You don't want to miss too much school!"  
  
Bumblebee was confused. "Why did you block me from seeing the Professor?" she asked. "And how come you told him not to come in? You got your nighties on as soon as we arrived!"  
  
As Blossom got the dry uniforms, Buttercup explained, "We don't care if you see the Professor; we don't want the Professor to see YOU! If he knew you were here, and a fifth grader, he'd insist that you spend the day at Ferntree Elementary up the street. You're coming to school with us!" 


	6. Bubbles' New Toy

The sisters got dressed, and then the foursome headed out for Pokey Oaks Kindergarten. They arrived just as the class was going outside for recess. The Girls landed next to Miss Keane as the last Kindergartner stepped outside. As Bumblebee lit on Bubbles' hand, the blue-clad Powerpuff covered her with her free hand.  
  
"Well, did you three take care of the problem?" Miss Keane asked.  
  
"Oh, we got a little unexpected help," Blossom said with a smile, "and it looks like Sedusa will be doing hard time for awhile."  
  
"Well, you can tell us all about it later," Miss Keane replied. "You're just in time for play period!"  
  
As the sisters headed for the playground, Bumblebee spoke up from under Bubbles' hand: "Hey, are you gonna hide me all day?"  
  
"Nope!" Bubbles exclaimed. "Just until we get out here with our friends!"  
  
True to her word, Bubbles uncovered Bumblebee as they reached the hopscotch court. Two of the Pokey Oaks girls, Emily and Rhoda, were waiting for her. (Another group of girls was playing with dolls not far from the court.)  
  
"Hi, Bubbles!" said Emily. "Want to play Hopscotch with us?"  
  
"Sure!" Bubbles replied. "But first, let me show you who helped us this morning!" She held up Bumblebee for her friends to see. "This is Bumblebee, the newest Powerpuff Girl!"  
  
The girls looked confused as they stared at the tiny figure in Bubbles' hand. "Uh, that's a cute toy, Bubbles," Rhoda commented.  
  
Bumblebee put her hands on her hips and said, "A cute TOY? I'll have you know I'm a Powerpuff Girl!"  
  
The two girls' eyes grew wide even before Bumblebee finished speaking. They screamed in unison, and the yellow-clad Powerpuff had to cover her ears in spite of her super powers. Rhoda took Bumblebee from Bubbles, shouting, "SHE'S REAL! SHE'S REAL! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!"  
  
"She's so tiny!" gasped Emily. "And she's alive! Does she really have Powerpuff powers like you and Blossom and Buttercup?"  
  
"I sure do!" Bumblebee answered. To prove herself, she flew circles around Emily and then flew circles around Rhoda.  
  
"I don't believe it!" cried Rhoda as Bumblebee returned to her hand. "You're no bigger than a honeybee, but you're a real girl!"  
  
The screaming had attracted the attention of the other students, and a crowd had formed at the hopscotch court. All the Pokey Oaks children, boys as well as girls, were astonished to see the newest -- and smallest -- addition to the Powerpuff team.  
  
Bumblebee had just returned to Bubbles' hand when Blossom and Buttercup flew to her side. "BUBBLES!" exclaimed Buttercup, trying to keep her voice down. "Don't you remember? We don't want to let everyone know about her all at once!"  
  
Bubbles looked at Buttercup, confused. "Huh? Who don't we want to let know about her?"  
  
"Excuse me! What's all this commotion about?" Bubbles looked up to see Miss Keane walking towards them. Buttercup cleared her throat as Bubbles covered Bumblebee once again.  
  
"Oh, uhh... Nothing, Miss Keane!" Bubbles replied. "We just had a new toy, that's all!"  
  
"Now, come on, Bubbles!" Miss Keane retorted, crossing her arms. "You know the rules. We SHARE the toys that we bring to school!"  
  
Bubbles felt a poke on her hand. She looked at Bumblebee and saw that she was winking at her. Then the tiny girl stared straight ahead and tensed her muscles, standing stiff. Bubbles grinned as she understood her new friend's plan.  
  
Bubbles turned to Blossom, who had been watching over her sister's shoulder. The red-haired girl stepped over to the dolls that were lying on the ground and stood up one of the smallest. "Help! Help!" Blossom spoke in a squeaky doll-voice. "Somebody save me!"  
  
Bubbles held Bumblebee high for all to see. "Don't worry!" peeped the blonde-haired girl, "Bumblebee, the Micropuff Girl, will save you!" The Kindergartners giggled as Bubbles "flew" the tiny girl down to the doll, making a "whoosh" sound. Bumblebee grabbed the doll as Bubbles lifted them up. "And so the day is saved, thanks to... the Micropuff Girl!" she shouted as she took the doll in her free hand and held Bumblebee high.  
  
The children all clapped as Miss Keane looked at Bumblebee. "My goodness!" the teacher exclaimed, "no wonder everyone was so excited! May I see your new doll?" Bubbles handed Bumblebee (who was still holding her form) to Miss Keane. "She's so small," she commented, "but so carefully made! You can even see freckles on her face! And her hair is so real! Bubbles, where did you get this?"  
  
"One of our fans sent it to us," Bubbles answered.  
  
"Yeah," Buttercup added, "she's a real big fan of ours, but she lives really far away, so she sent Bumblebee to us!"  
  
"Oh really?" Miss Keane asked.  
  
"That's right," Blossom replied. "I forget where she was from, but her name was Andrea and she said her friends follow all our adventures every week!"  
  
Miss Keane handed Bumblebee back to Bubbles and commented, "Well, your fan certainly made you a pretty toy! We've still got plenty of time left for recess, so why don't you share your 'Micropuff Girl' with everyone else?"  
  
Almost immediately, all the girls in the class reached for the new Powerpuff. "I wanna play with Bumblebee!" "No, I wanna!" "My turn!" When all the yelling was over, Julie Bean was carrying Bumblebee over to the seesaws with most of the other girls behind her. 


	7. A much-needed rest

Later that afternoon, the boys and girls of Pokey Oaks got out their blankets and lay down for their naps. Just as the class settled down, Rhoda raised her hand. "Miss Keane?" she asked, "Where's Bumblebee?"  
  
Miss Keane picked up a matchbox and said, "She's right here on my desk!" The children looked up to see the tiny girl in a makeshift bed, really just some cotton Miss Keane has packed into the little box. The Kindergartners giggled as their teacher replaced the box on her desk.  
  
Bumblebee thought that a rest would do her some good; even with Powerpuff abilities, an afternoon with a class of excited five-year-olds could be pretty tiring! She'd seesawed with Julie and Emily, got pushed on a swing by Eboni, went down the slide a dozen times each on Cassie's and Bonnie's laps, and played long-distance catch with about a dozen girls... and they had been throwing HER! Then when the class came in from recess, the boys all complained that since she'd played with the girls, she should have her snack with the boys. Miss Keane had set her on a plate with a cookie and a thimble full of chocolate milk... and Bumblebee discovered how dreamy a cookie looks when you're two inches tall! Finally, almost every girl in the class had asked if she could hold Bumblebee during the afternoon nap, so Miss Keane had announced that she would keep "Bubbles' new toy" during nap time.  
  
Being the plaything of a class of Kindergartners was not quite what Bumblebee would have picked for a wish, but it wasn't too bad as long as she was a Powerpuff -- or even a Micropuff -- Girl.  
  
Bumblebee thought about her home life as Miss Keane got up to pick up the trash from lunch. Part of her hoped she'd keep her super powers for a little while after the visit to Townsville was over. She could really put Derek Stiles in his place if she had Powerpuff strength! But she sure didn't want to go back to Glenwood only two inches tall. Explaining everything to her parents, her teachers, even her friends, would be such a hassle. And she'd never hear the end of "Andrea Ant" if she was still this size.  
  
"Well, well!" she heard Miss Keane say, "I see Bumblebee ate some of her cookie and drank all of her milk!" She smiled as she realized that Miss Keane had seen the half-eaten cookie and had figured one of the boys had taken a bite of it.  
  
The Micropuff Girl shifted in her "bed" just before Miss Keane returned to the desk. Bumblebee hoped that nap time wouldn't be too long: lying totally motionless wasn't as easy as it sounded!  
  
Bumblebee's wish was granted a few minutes later when the Hot Line rang. She heard Blossom answer it, "Powerpuff Girls! What? A giant monster in downtown Townsville?" ("What a big surprise!" Bumblebee thought.) "We'll get on it right away!"  
  
As Blossom asked for permission to leave, Bumblebee felt her bed rock from side to side. She looked up and saw Mike Believe smiling down at her. "Bubbles!" Mike shouted at the Girls. As they turned to him, he held out the tiny bed. "Don't forget to take Bumblebee with you!" he exclaimed.  
  
Miss Keane laughed as Bubbles picked up their miniature comrade from the box. "That's right, Girls!" she added, "I'm sure Bumblebee wants to join you on your adventure!" 


	8. Giant Monster vs. Micropuff Girl

The sisters flew through the roof. (Bumblebee could hear Miss Keane blurt out, "Just don't--!" a moment before they crashed through.) As they flew to downtown Townsville, Bubbles released Bumblebee so she could fly on her own.  
  
"Hey, Bubbles!" Bumblebee called out. "Where did you get that name, 'Micropuff Girl'?"  
  
"Oh, I dunno," she replied. "I just thought it sounded nice."  
  
Buttercup flew to Bumblebee's side. "Bumblebee," she asked, "are you sure you want to go with us on this one? Some of those monsters are dangerous!"  
  
"I didn't come here to chicken out when the going gets rough!" replied Bumblebee. "I don't care how big the goon is, I'll take it on myself if I have to!"  
  
"All right!" yelled Buttercup.  
  
The quartet could see the monster now; it was a 100-foot tall orange tyrannosaurus-like creature with silver spikes on its arms and legs. The creature was stomping through downtown, breathing fire and knocking down buildings.  
  
"Buttercup! Bumblebee!" shouted Blossom. "You take the frontal assault! Bubbles, take the right side!" The Girls assumed their positions and began their attack.  
  
Taking Buttercup's lead, Bumblebee pummeled the creature with a barrage of punches. She noticed that the other two Girls were attacking the monster at its sides with their laser vision. The giant roared with pain as the heroines continued their attack.  
  
Bumblebee winced as a blow from the creature's massive arm knocked Buttercup to the ground. She resisted the temptation to fly down and help her. Buttercup could take care of herself, and right now the job at hand was stopping the monster. The Micropuff Girl heard another "thud"; she looked up and saw that Bubbles had been knocked away as well. Bumblebee redoubled her attack, pummeling the creature repeatedly with her hardest punches.  
  
Suddenly, the creature's roaring stopped. Bumblebee looked up to see that Blossom was gone. She stopped her punching and flew up to the monster's eye level.  
  
Bumblebee gasped. The behemoth had plucked Blossom out of the air and was trying to crush her in its massive paw. The Powerpuff leader was holding back the creature's deadly grip, but she was straining and looked as if she wouldn't last much longer.  
  
Bumblebee flew at top speed into the creature's face, and delivered a punch to its jaw with all of her strength. But the creature's thick hide could take the blow, and Bumblebee recoiled from the force of her own punch. As she righted herself, she saw that the monster was looking around curiously, as if it was thinking, "What was that?" Bumblebee realized that she was too small to fight the creature by strength alone.  
  
The newest Powerpuff Girl saw that her punch had bought Blossom a few seconds, but the monster was fixing its attention back on the red-haired Powerpuff. Bumblebee couldn't see Buttercup or Bubbles, so she knew she'd have to act now to save her comrade. The yellow-clad Girl fired a shot of laser energy to the side of the beast's face. The creature roared once again, and lifted its free paw to knock away its enemy. It stopped with a confused look when it realized it couldn't see the source of the laser blast.  
  
That was the inspiration Bumblebee needed! She darted several yards to the right and fired another shot at the monster. As the creature roared, she zoomed back to the left and fired again. The monster flailed its free arm, swinging at empty space and punching positions where Bumblebee had been earlier.  
  
The monster screamed as Blossom flew up and punched the fiend in the jaw. Bumblebee felt relieved as she realized that her distraction had allowed her fellow Powerpuff to break free. As the Micropuff Girl continued the laser bursts, Buttercup and Bubbles resumed the assault. The creature, battered and confounded, lasted only a few more seconds before collapsing.  
  
The three veteran Powerpuffs flew over to Bumblebee. Bubbles put her hands around the minuscule girl and hugged her to her cheek. "Way to go, Bumblebee!" the blue-clad Powerpuff exclaimed.  
  
"Now THAT took courage!" Buttercup chimed in.  
  
"Courage and teamwork, too!" added Blossom. "Bumblebee, you have got the heart of a Powerpuff Girl!"  
  
"Thanks," said Bumblebee. The diminutive girl flew away; her fellow Powerpuffs watched as she dropped out of sight among the buildings of Townsville.  
  
Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup looked at each other. They knew something was wrong. 


	9. Not really a Powerpuff Girl?

In a deserted alley in downtown Townsville, far from the site of the battle with the orange monster, Bumblebee sat down on a pebble. She hung her head sadly and thought about what had just happened.  
  
How could she have been so ineffective, she wondered. She'd punched and punched that creature and it hadn't even noticed; she'd given it a super-speed flying punch and it had just barely noticed. Oh, sure, she'd zapped it with laser power and distracted it. But there was no way she could have beaten that monster by herself. She remembered how much bravado she'd shown before the fight had started. "What a joke!" she thought.  
  
"My dear, tell me what is wrong." Bumblebee looked up to see Florina standing beside her. Just as she had imagined earlier, the fairy godmother looked as big as an ordinary adult to the shrunken girl. Bumblebee stood up and gave Florina a long hug. After being in a land of giants all day, it felt good to be in the arms of someone near her own size.  
  
Florina stroked the back of the girl's head. "I watched you fight that terrible creature with the other Powerpuff Girls," the woman said, "and I thought you did very well. You saved Blossom and helped the other Girls save Townsville."  
  
"But, Florina," Bumblebee replied, "with all my Powerpuff strength I couldn't fight that thing! My punches had no effect on it, and even my flying punch didn't do much!"  
  
The "vertically-challenged supernaturally-empowered female emergency caregiver" smiled at Bumblebee. "Perhaps your problem is not so much of a problem as you think it is, my dear," she replied gently. "You have not been a Powerpuff Girl for long, only a few hours now. Perhaps there is a lesson you can learn from this."  
  
"What lesson am I supposed to get from it?" the newest Powerpuff asked. "That I'm too little to really be a Powerpuff Girl?"  
  
"You're being too hard on yourself, Bumblebee," Florina answered gently. "But it is not for me to tell you what lessons you might learn. Your sister Powerpuff Girls will be here in a moment. Learn from their experience."  
  
The girl looked surprised. "You called me Bumblebee!" she exclaimed.  
  
"Was there a reason I should not have?" Florina replied with a twinkle in her eye. Then she looked up and added, "See? Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup are coming now. I'm sure they will help you."  
  
Bumblebee looked up to see the Girls flying down toward her. "Florina!" she said, "Let me--" But as she turned her head to where the fairy godmother had stood, Bumblebee saw that she had disappeared.  
  
"I see her! She's right down there!" Bubbles called. The trio landed around Bumblebee and sat down cross-legged around her. It gave the Micropuff Girl a start to see them towering over her. In the short time she had been with Florina, she had forgotten just how tiny she was.  
  
"Bumblebee!" Blossom began, "You really looked upset when you flew off a moment ago! Did we do something to make you sad?"  
  
Bubbles put her hand on Bumblebee's back and said, "I'm sorry if I shouldn't have hugged you like that. I was just so happy at how well you did that I guess I got carried away."  
  
Bumblebee held up her hands. "No, no, Girls!" she said, "I'm the one who should be sorry, worrying you like that. No, you guys have been so great to me ever since I got here." She sat back down on her pebble and continued, "Did you see how I fought against that creature?"  
  
"Yeah, did we ever!" Buttercup said. "You hit it with both fists and didn't let up, even when we got knocked away! And to you that thing must've looked about a mile tall! Your body might be small, but you've got the heart and courage of a giant!"  
  
Bumblebee had to chuckle at the green-clan girl's tirade. "I really appreciate that, but what I meant was... didn't you notice that my fists didn't affect that thing? It didn't even feel my punches; it stopped roaring when you three were knocked away, so it couldn't even feel me hitting it. And then I slammed into it with a flying punch to the face, and it only barely noticed."  
  
"But, Bumblebee," Bubbles replie, "that monster was HUGE! None of us could hit it hard enough to knock it down by ourselves!"  
  
"At least the thing felt you three fighting it!" the smallest Powerpuff retorted. "I have all this Powerpuff strength, and then when it came time to use it I was too small to be noticed. It made me feel like... like I'm not really a Powerpuff Girl."  
  
The other three Girls were shocked by Bumblebee's statement. "Bumblebee, no!" "That's not true!" "Don't even think that!" they replied.  
  
Blossom picked up her downhearted comrade and held her to eye level. "Bumblebee," she said, "being a Powerpuff Girl is more than flying and being strong and having freeze breath and stuff. It's doing the right thing, it's standing up for what's good, it's not backing down when the going gets rough. You've proven yourself twice now, where a phony would have turned tail and run away. As far as we're concerned, you ARE a Powerpuff Girl!"  
  
Bubbles added, "And super powers aren't what makes you a Powerpuff, either! You know all of our secrets. Remember how Princess kept giving herself super powers with all of her money? She's not a Powerpuff Girl and she never will be! And how about Major Man? He faked saving Townsville so he could look good, but then he chickened out when a real emergency came up!"  
  
"There's one more thing, Bumblebee," Buttercup commented. "All of us have had a real challenge, something that all our powers couldn't handle. Remember when we had to use Dynamo to beat that one monster? And how about that one really big monster that none of us could beat until Bubbles asked it to leave?" Buttercup reached for the Micropuff Girl and took her in her own hand. "THAT'S part of the test of a true Powerpuff Girl," she concluded. "Anyone can pick a fight with someone weaker or slower than they are. A real hero stays in the fight even when her enemy is stronger or faster!"  
  
Bumblebee looked at her heroes. Maybe it was the pep talk, or maybe it was just because they believed in her, but she felt better already. She stood up and told them, "Thanks for not giving up on me, guys! Sorry I made such a big deal about it!"  
  
"All right!" shouted Bubbles as the three sisters got up.  
  
Blossom stepped over to Bumblebee and said, "I hope this doesn't sound mean, but... We probably beat that monster today because of you. Because you're so tiny, that is."  
  
Bumblebee floated up to Blossom's face and asked, "Really? How do you figure that?"  
  
"Well," Blossom explained, "none of us could've taken care of that thing by ourselves. We could hurt it, but it could grab us or slap us away before we could really put it away. But since you were too small for it to see, you could keep attacking it without getting knocked down. I think that thing wasted so much energy trying to swat you that it was all worn out and we could finish it off." Then she added, "I didn't mean to insult you or anything..."  
  
Bumblebee laughed. "Oh, I don't mind being about as big as a real bumblebee! As long as I'm a Powerpuff Girl, there's nothing wrong with being kinda small!"  
  
The four Powerpuff Girls all laughed at their newest member's silly comment. Then Blossom reminded them, "Well, we'd better get back to Pokey Oaks. We've still got an hour or so of school left!"  
  
Bubbles looked up and remarked, "Uh, Blossom? I don't think we'll be making it back to Pokey Oaks today." The other Girls looked up to see the Powerpuff Signal in the sky. "The Mayor must need us!" Bubbles added.  
  
"Let's go!" Buttercup shouted, and the four Powerpuff Girls headed for City Hall. 


	10. Signal in the Sky, Oh!

"This is so neat!" Bumblebee thought as she flew with Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup. Without thinking about it, she started singing: "Signal in the sky-o, / That's when you know that you have to fly-o. / Signal in the sky, Oh-oh-oh-oh... / Let's go!"  
  
Bumblebee looked around. The other three Powerpuff Girls had moved closer to her and were watching her with grins on their faces. "Uhh, sorry," she said. "I'll be quiet."  
  
"Bumblebee?" Buttercup asked, "Is that a song about us?"  
  
"Well, yeah," the Micropuff Girl replied. "I got that CD for Christmas last year. That song had a cool video that went along with it--"  
  
Bubbles squealed, "We've got TV shows and comic books and CD's and videos in your world! What's next, a movie?"  
  
The smallest Powerpuff grinned and said, "It was in the theaters last summer."  
  
By now even Blossom was laughing. "Hey, Bumblebee! You think Florina could cast a spell to send us to your world? I have a hunch we'd like it there!"  
  
The yellow-clad Girl replied, "I think she could, but you might be two inches tall when you got there!"  
  
"That's not so bad," Buttercup said. "You're two inches tall and you're all right!"  
  
"So, Bumblebee," Blossom cut in, "do you know all the words to that song?"  
  
"Okay!" Bumblebee replied, "I'm not the best singer but here's how it goes: 'Would you like to play a game of hide and seek now?...'"  
  
  
"Power super / Super power / Power super / Super power." The four Powerpuff Girls landed at City Hall, singing the song Bumblebee had taught them. They entered through the front door, trying to hold back their chuckles. Bumblebee lit on the Mayor's desktop as the other three landed in front of the desk.  
  
"What's up, Mr. Mayor?" Bubbles asked.  
  
"Powerpuff Girls!" the Mayor cried. "Thank goodness you're here! Townsville is in terrible danger!! We need your help! Umm, err... we need you NOW!!!"  
  
"What's the danger?" Blossom asked. "Where are we needed?"  
  
"Where?" the Mayor repeated. He thought a moment, and then stammered, "Well, umm... Maybe it was downtown... Or maybe it was Townsville Park! No, wait, wait... Ohhh, I forgot!"  
  
"What Mr. Mayor is trying to remember is that Mojo Jojo is using one of his devices to attack the Townsville National Bank in West Townsville." Bumblebee looked up to see Ms. Sara Bellum standing next to her. After a moment, the tall woman rested her hand, palm up, on the desk and said, "Let me see you, dear." The Micropuff Girl floated onto Ms. Bellum's hand, and the Mayor's assistant lifted her to eye level. "Goodness, Girls," Ms. Bellum said, "it seems you have a new member today!"  
  
"That's right!" Bubbles replied as the veteran Powerpuffs floated to the woman's side. "Ms. Bellum, this is Bumblebee, and she's helping us today!"  
  
"Well, very nice to meet you, Bumblebee!" Ms. Bellum greeted the new Powerpuff. Bumblebee was staring wide-eyed at Ms. Bellum's face. The other three Girls looked at each other. "Bumblebee?" the adult woman asked, "Are you all right?"  
  
The petite girl suddenly came to. "Oh, uh, very nice to meet you, too, Ms. Bellum!" Bumblebee replied. "Sorry, I didn't mean to stare like that. It's just that your face is very pretty!"  
  
"Why, thank you, dear!" Sara Bellum replied. The Micropuff Girl joined her comrades as Ms. Bellum turned to them and said, "Well, Girls, you don't want to delay. West Townsville is waiting on you!"  
  
As the Girls darted away, Bumblebee heard the Mayor ask, "Say, Miss Bellum, that new girl in the yellow dress... Was she a bit short for her age?" She then heard the assistant reply, "Perhaps just a little, sir," in her usual cool manner.  
  
"Bumblebee!" Buttercup called out. "Why did you just stare at Ms. Bellum's face like that? You acted like you've never seen it before!"  
  
"But I never have!" the new girl replied. "No one in my world has ever seen Sara Bellum's face!"  
  
"What?!" Bubbles exclaimed. "I thought you knew everything about us! You mean they never show Ms. Bellum on TV?"  
  
"Oh, no, they show Ms. Bellum lots of times," Bumblebee replied. "They just never show her face. Sometimes it's hidden by all her hair. But usually it's just out of the top of the TV picture."  
  
"Well, that makes sense," Blossom commented. "Ms. Bellum really is tall!"  
  
"Yeah," Buttercup added, "for a moment I thought you were spooked by her! To you, Ms. Bellum must have looked as big as a mountain!"  
  
"Oh, that wasn't a problem," Bumblebee replied. "When you're my size, everybody looks like a giant! You get used to it after awhile!"  
  
The four heroines were in West Townsville now. They rounded the twenty-story Lacy's department store and saw Mojo Jojo in his newest Mojobot. Bubbles gasped at the sight.  
  
"What in the world?" exclaimed Blossom.  
  
"Will you look at that!" added Buttercup.  
  
Bumblebee hung her head. "Oh, no," she sighed, not even trying to conceal her disappointment. 


	11. Mojo's sinister trap

"What's the matter?" Buttercup asked.  
  
"I was looking for a challenge!" the Micropuff Girl replied. "That's the lamest gizmo I've ever seen! My best friend Natalie could knock it down by blowing on it!"  
  
"I'll say!" added Blossom. "A paramecium with an attitude could take that thing out!"  
  
The Girls paused in flight to stare at Mojo's latest excuse for a destruction machine. It was little more than a clear plastic globe on stilts. Its legs were thin, 15-foot-long aluminum rods that visibly bent when the device "walked". The thin plastic in the globe looked like the kind used to make throwaway picnic utensils. In the globe itself, was Mojo Jojo, grinning and operating a bare-essentials remote device. The mediocre machine was knocking down trash cans and putting dents and scrapes in car doors -- a nuisance, but hardly a threat to the city's well-being.  
  
Bubbles smiled and said, "Well, maybe Mojo's having an off week! We still have to stop him before everyone in Townsville dies laughing at that thing!"  
  
"Bubbles is right," Blossom agreed. "Bumblebee, you and I'll take out the legs. Buttercup, Bubbles, you smash the globe."  
  
Bumblebee flew straight to the left leg of Mojo's contraption. She and Blossom took out the weak metal poles as the other two Girls smashed the cheap plastic sphere. Bumblebee turned around to see Mojo Jojo, still grinning, using his flight pack to descend slowly to the ground. The other three Girls were standing, facing the monkey, so Bumblebee flew to their side.  
  
"Hold it right there, Mojo Jojo!" shouted Bubbles.  
  
"Ah, Powerpuff Girls," Mojo replied, "so you have defeated my latest Mojobot. I suppose now you think you three will take me to jail and make me pay for my evil ways!"  
  
"We don't just THINK so," Buttercup corrected him, "we KNOW so!"  
  
Bumblebee was worried. She flew onto Blossom's shoulder and whispered, "Blossom, something's wrong here! This is too easy!"  
  
Before Blossom could reply, Mojo pulled out a blue and orange ray gun and pointed it at the Powerpuff Girls. He pulled the trigger, and an orange energy covered the foursome. As the Girls grimaced under the barrage, Mojo taunted them: "Oh, no, Buttercup, you only THINK you will take me to jail! But I, Mojo Jojo, know you will not! For you have fallen into my trap, and now I shall be rid of you Powerpuff Pests, FOREVER!!"  
  
As the evil energy continued, Bumblebee noticed her surroundings getting bigger and bigger. "Oh, good GRIEF!!" the Micropuff Girl thought, almost laughing in spite of the agony from Mojo's weapon. "It couldn't be! It just COULDN'T be!!"  
  
Seconds later, Mojo shut off his ray gun. Grinning broadly, he strode over to the miniaturized Girls and looked down at them.  
  
Blossom looked around. "Uh... ohhh," she deadpanned.  
  
"That monkey shrunk us!" Buttercup said angrily. "Now we're all as tiny as Bumblebee!!"  
  
"No, you're not!" retorted Bumblebee, barely suppressing a giggle. "Look at Blossom's shoulder!"  
  
The Girls looked at Blossom's left shoulder. There was the Micropuff Girl, who clearly had shrunk to the same degree as the other Girls had. Bubbles gasped, "Oh, no! Bumblebee, not you, too!!"  
  
"How long did you say it took to get used to this size?" Buttercup asked.  
  
Before the smallest (and now even smaller than ever) Powerpuff could reply, Mojo's laugh filled the air. "MWAHAHAHAHA!! Please describe to me how the weather is down there, Powerpuff Peanuts! So many times I, Mojo Jojo, have endeavored to utterly destroy you, only to fail because you were never utterly destroyed! But now in this, my most ingenious plan ever, I, Mojo Jojo, have finally won my victory! This time I did not try to destroy you; instead I reduced you to such a size that your powers are ineffective against the ultimate genius of... Moooojo JOJO!!"  
  
As the simian fired up his flight pack, he continued to taunt the shrunken team: "I hope you enjoyed destroying my Economy-Model Grade-Z Mojobot. It is a shame you did not realize until it was too late that my use of such an inferior machine was just a ruse to lure you out here, so I, Mojo Jojo, might inflict the ultimate humiliation upon you! I shall now return to Volcano Mountain, where I, Mojo Jojo, shall activate my titanium-and-tungsten reinforced Ultimate Mojobot, which you Powerpuff Pipsqueaks will be utterly unable to stop!" As he lifted off, Mojo kicked a trash can, knocking it down. "I leave you to fight enemies more befitting to your new size!" he added as he flew off.  
  
From the trash can, four rats came scurrying out. The smallest of them was easily twice as tall on four feet as Blossom, Bubbles, or Buttercup was on two. Sensing new prey, the rodents licked their lips and advanced toward the tiny Girls. The heroines heard Mojo's insane laugh in the distance as the rats came closer and closer. 


	12. This is gonna take some getting used to!

"All right!" Bumblebee cried out. "Let's take care of these--"  
  
Her words were cut short. Bumblebee tumbled to the ground as Blossom and her sisters zipped away, with three of the rats in pursuit. The Micropuff Girl realized that her comrades were reacting in shock to the world she had been living in all that day and would need time to adjust to their new size.  
  
It was only a second later that Bumblebee realized that only three of the four rats had gone after her new friends. She turned around to see the fourth rat, close enough to gobble her up in one bite. The rat made its move... and Bumblebee dodged the creature, landing a solid right on its jaw as it did. The rodent squeaked in agony as the Micropuff Girl flew under it, picked it up by its belly, and yelling, "TAKE... THAT!!", threw it into the wall of a nearby building. The rat whimpered as it slid to the ground; it then ran off, deciding to find a dinner that wouldn't fight back.  
  
Bumblebee took off in the direction her fellow Powerpuffs had flown. She saw Buttercup flying away from a rat that was keeping pace with her. With a burst of Powerpuff speed, the Micropuff Girl flew next to Buttercup's head. "Buttercup!" she shouted. "What are you running from that thing for? You're a Powerpuff Girl!"  
  
The look of panic on Buttercup's face disappeared, replaced with a look of determination. "Yeah!" she said, stopping in flight. "No lousy rat is gonna make a mouse out of Buttercup!" The creature pounced on its prey; the black-haired Girl sidestepped it, then grabbed its tail and slammed it over and over onto the sidewalk. As she let it go, the rat let out a half-moan, half-squeak and crawled away.  
  
The two Girls flew back to find Blossom flying circles around a parked car in an effort to evade her nemesis. "Blossom!" Buttercup yelled at her sister. "We're Powerpuff Girls! Stand your ground against that thing!"  
  
The Powerpuff leader lost her frightened look and ducked behind a wheel of the car. As the rat tried to pursue her, Blossom zipped behind it. "Hey, ugly! Over here!" she called to the beady-eyed creature. As it turned to attack, she fired shots of laser energy at the rat's front paws. It shrieked in pain, and then hobbled off.  
  
"Where's Bubbles?" Blossom asked.  
  
"The rat chased her down the alley!" Buttercup replied.  
  
The three Girls soared down the nearby alleyway. They stopped at the end and took in the sight before them. Bubbles was pressed against the corner of the alley, trembling with terror before a huge rat that was toying with her. Her face was a mask of fear as the creature prepared for the kill.  
  
"Bubbles--," Buttercup started to call out, but Bumblebee put her hand on the bigger girl's shoulder. "She's too spooked by that thing," Bumblebee explained. "This all happened so fast she hasn't adjusted to it yet."  
  
"Well we can't just let that rat make a meal of her!" Blossom shot back.  
  
"Wait here," Bumblebee replied. "I've got an idea."  
  
The smallest Powerpuff flew at the rat, then disappeared into the creature's fur. Blossom and Buttercup looked at each other.  
  
The rat crouched as if it were about to attack, but then stopped. The creature scratched its back with its right paw. Then it scratched the back of its neck with its left paw. Bubbles watched in surprise as the rat rolled on its back, twisting and contorting to try and stop some terrible itch.  
  
As the rodent lay writhing on the pavement, Bumblebee zipped out from its neck and flew to Bubbles. "C'mon, let's go!" the smaller girl whispered. The two Powerpuffs quickly joined their partners, and the foursome headed out of the alley.  
  
"Just what did you do to make the rat itch like that?" Blossom asked.  
  
Grinning, Bumblebee replied, "I just flew into its fur and kicked a bunch of the fleas that were sleeping on it! Once they started biting, that rat couldn't do anything besides try to stop the itching!"  
  
The Girls flew in the direction of Volcano Mountain. They knew that Mojo's "Ultimate Mojobot" would be coming from there, and for that matter was probably already powering up for its attack on Townsville.  
  
As they flew, Blossom called out, "Hey, Bumblebee! We were wondering, how come you laughed when you saw you got shrunk even more? I thought it was scary!"  
  
Bumblebee replied, "It's all just so crazy! First Florina shrinks me down just so I can get here, and then the day I arrive is the day Mojo Jojo hits us with a shrinking ray! I mean, you could think of a thousand things that his ray guns do, but the day I'm here he has to use the shrinking ray. It was just too weird!"  
  
"Well, I don't think I could stand being as teensy as you are now," added Bubbles. "I'll bet some of the fleas you kicked were bigger than you!"  
  
The Micropuff Girl thought for a moment. "Now that I think about it, almost all of them were," she replied.  
  
"I couldn't take that!" Bubbles said. "It's scary enough being two inches tall!"  
  
"Yeah, Bubbles," Buttercup added, "maybe it is scary. But that's no excuse for the way we acted! I'm ashamed of the way I flew off when the rats attacked!"  
  
"Hey, I don't blame you for trying to get away from those things!" Bumblebee answered. "Getting shrunk like that, and right then facing rats twice your size? No wonder you were caught off-guard! I might've done the same thing if I had to fight giant animals the moment I got here!"  
  
"Heads up, everybody!" Blossom interrupted. "Mojobot sighted just east of City Hall!" The Girls saw Mojo Jojo's newest device: a 100-foot tall battle robot with reinforced titanium arms & legs and a plastic globe for the "body". The robot was armed with perhaps a hundred guns, rifles, missile launchers, ray shooters and general items of destruction. And in the center of the globe, of course, was a grinning Mojo Jojo at the controls.  
  
Buttercup turned to Bumblebee with a grin. "Is that enough of a challenge for you?"  
  
"Now THAT'S what I call a challenge!" the Micropuff Girl replied.  
  
"Well, let's show Mojo Jojo that a Powerpuff's a Powerpuff, no matter what size!" Bubbles added as the Girls closed in. 


	13. You wanted a challenge...

Blossom called out, "Buttercup, Bumblebee, you take out the legs on that thing! Bubbles, we'll hit the globe!"  
  
The pink- and blue-clad Powerpuffs flew to the control center of Mojo's battle robot, and the green- and yellow-clad Girls zoomed to its metal supports. Buttercup and Bumblebee flew into the left and right legs of the device at top speed. Moments later, the two pulled themselves from the undented titanium legs, dazed and bruised.  
  
"This is some pretty strong metal Mojo used!" Bumblebee commented as she flew back to Buttercup.  
  
"Let's try this," Buttercup suggested as she fired a burst of laser energy at the upper leg of the massive weapon. Bumblebee followed her lead, blasting the other leg with her laser vision. The legs glowed a dull red, but they did not bend or break. The two continued the barrage, but the supports held firm.  
  
"Buttercup!" Bumblebee yelled. "Try the joints! Maybe we can stop it if we fuse them!" The duo combined their laser power on the joint of the right leg of the Mojobot. This time the metal glowed a little brighter red, but the leg still held.  
  
Suddenly, Bumblebee called out, "Buttercup, it's no use. We can't affect that thing."  
  
Buttercup stopped her barrage. "What do you mean?" she asked.  
  
"Mojo said that metal is tungsten-reinforced," Bumblebee explained. "Tungsten is heat-resistant. We probably couldn't melt those legs if all four of us fired together!" ("What do you know?" she thought. "I guess I remembered more of my science than I realized!")  
  
Buttercup and Bumblebee looked up at the other two Powerpuff Girls. Blossom was trying to smash through the globe as Bubbles fired energy balls from her hands at the plastic sphere. Neither Girl could break through to get to Mojo Jojo.  
  
Bumblebee saw that Mojo was speaking, so she concentrated her hearing on what he was saying. "MWA-HA-HA-HA!!" the simian taunted, "Your efforts are to no avail, Powerpuff Fleas! This globe has been treated with the same reinforced metal that the legs and arms are made of, so your powers are useless to affect it! But I grow weary of seeing bugs on my windshield, so I hope you do not mind if I pause to run the windshield wiper!"  
  
Mojo grabbed one of the weapons, a small rocket launcher built into his Mojobot, and train it on Bubbles. Buttercup yelled, "Bubbles! Watch out!" and flew to her sister's aid. But her warning came too late; the weapon did its work a split second before Buttercup arrived. The blue-clad Powerpuff Girl was caught by Mojo's rocket and carried miles away. An explosion in the distance announced her landing.  
  
"BUBBLES!!" screamed Blossom.  
  
Mojo chuckled as he purveyed the scene. "How nice of you to drop in, Butterfly!" he sneered. "And how opportune your arrival is for me, for now I may render the two of you even more ineffective than you already are!!"  
  
Bumblebee's eyes grew wide as she realized that Mojo Jojo was reaching for the shrinking ray! "No!!" she shouted as she took off at hyperspeed for the globe.  
  
The Micropuff Girl heard Buttercup yell, "Bumblebee, no! Don't do it!" just before she hit the underside of the sphere. The smallest Powerpuff bored through the plastic-and-metal shell and emerged inside the control center! For a moment, Bumblebee was confused. She had hoped to jostle the globe and throw Mojo's aim off; she didn't imagine she'd be able to break into the superstrong device! But there was no time to waste; Mojo's finger was already on the trigger.  
  
Bumblebee zoomed up to Mojo Jojo, putting her shoulder into the butt of the vile weapon just as the monkey pulled the trigger. The gun, pointing down, missed Buttercup and struck a car parked below. Bumblebee watched the car shrink to toy size.  
  
"What is this?" Mojo yelled. He looked around, trying to see who had thrown his aim off. For once, the Micropuff Girl was thankful she was so tiny: Mojo Jojo probably couldn't see her unless he looked right at her.  
  
"Bumblebee!" Buttercup yelled. "Get out of there!"  
  
The Micropuff Girl wanted to yell "Thanks a lot!" to Buttercup for letting Mojo know she was in there. But Mojo had detached the shrinking ray from the side of the Mojobot and was carefully looking over his compartment. "Who or what is this Bumblebee of which Powerpuff Buttercup spoke?" the monkey asked. "Show yourself, Bumblebee, whoever or whatever you are!!"  
  
At the sight of the shrinking ray, Bumblebee's heart started pounding like a machine gun. It seemed as if all she'd done since she arrived was get smaller and smaller, and she just could not take being shrunk another time. Almost crying from fear, the diminutive girl zipped to the hole she had made and escaped the Mojobot.  
  
  
Bumblebee flew to Buttercup, her heart still racing. (She noticed that Blossom was nowhere to be seen.) When Buttercup saw her approach, she reached out and took the newest Powerpuff Girl in her hands.  
  
"Don't do that again!" Buttercup told her. "Thanks for deflecting that ray gun, but Mojo Jojo is too dangerous for any of us to take on by ourselves!" She noticed that Bumblebee was trembling. "Are you all right?" the veteran Powerpuff asked.  
  
"I'm s-sorry," Bumblebee stammered. "When I saw M-Mojo get that ray gun and start looking for me, I had to g-get out of there. I tried to be brave, b-but the thought of getting shrunk again..." Her voice trailed off.  
  
"Well, you did the right thing, getting out of there," Buttercup replied. "There's a difference between being brave and being foolish, and you won't be much help if you're the size of a microbe!" Buttercup looked at the Micropuff Girl for a moment. Then, to Bumblebee's surprise, Buttercup held her to her chest and gave her a hug! After a moment, Buttercup released her. "Are you gonna be okay?" the green-clad Girl asked her.  
  
"Yeah, I'll be fine," Bumblebee replied, floating up from Buttercup's hands.  
  
The Mojobot was starting to move again; Bumblebee figured Mojo must have grown tired of looking for her and decided to get on with destroying Townsville. "We've got to stop Mojo Jojo!" the yellow-clad Powerpuff Girl yelled.  
  
"That's right," Buttercup replied, "but we're all gonna have to work together to do it! Here come Blossom and Bubbles now!" Bumblebee turned to see Blossom flying toward her with her arm around Bubbles. The blonde-haired Girl looked as if she was just coming to; she had a number of scrapes and bruises and was covered with a thin coat of ash.  
  
"Bubbles!" Bumblebee yelled. "Are you all right?"  
  
Bubbles took her sister's arm from her waist and flew the last few feet on her own. "It's gonna take more than one lousy missile from Mojo to take me out of a fight!" she replied. Bumblebee could detect Bubbles' "hardcore mode" coming active.  
  
"HUDDLE!" shouted Blossom. The Girls gathered together, and Blossom started the strategy session. 


	14. Strategy Session

"All right," the red-haired Powerpuff Girl began, "we don't have much time. Has anyone tried anything that worked against that thing?"  
  
"Well," Bumblebee said, "I bored my way into the globe right after Bubbles got shot."  
  
"WHAT?!" Bubbles yelled. "We couldn't get in no matter what we did! Are you kidding us?"  
  
"No, she's not," Buttercup confirmed. "She knocked that shrink ray down just before Mojo zapped me a second time."  
  
"How did you get in?" Blossom asked. "Bubbles and I threw everything we had at that globe and couldn't even scratch it!"  
  
"I'm not sure," Bumblebee replied, "but I think it's because I'm as little as I am. I've got all the Powerpuff power that you've got, but it's concentrated." She saw that her teammates didn't understand, so she added, "It's like, you use your power and try to punch a hole an inch big, and you can't--"  
  
"--but you take the same power and try to punch a hole a millimeter big, and you succeed," Blossom cut in. "All right, I see now. So far that's the only thing we've tried that's worked. What can we do with it?"  
  
"Not very much," Bumblebee sighed. "A hole just big enough for me to go through won't do you guys any good. And I sure don't want any of you to get shrunk any more!"  
  
"And we SURE don't want you to get shrunk any more!" Bubbles added. "If Mojo gets you with that ray again we'll need a microscope just to see you!"  
  
Trying not to think about Bubbles' last comment, the Micropuff Girl suggested, "Didn't it leave an opening when Mojo took his shrinking ray out of the globe? As small as we are, you guys could probably squeeze in, and I KNOW I could fly right in!"  
  
"That sounds like an okay idea," Buttercup replied, "but that monkey's got some device that covers the hole as soon as he takes the weapon out. I tried it when you were in there with him and I couldn't get in!"  
  
"There's gotta be something we can do!" Blossom exclaimed. "C'mon, guys, think!"  
  
"What if I flew into the globe a whole lot of times in the same area?" Bumblebee asked. "Maybe it would weaken the plastic if I perforated it over and over."  
  
"No, that wouldn't work," Blossom replied. "Sorry, Bumblebee, but as tiny as the holes would be it wouldn't be enough. As much time as it would take for you to do any good, Mojo would notice what you were up to and do something to stop you." (And Bumblebee had no doubt as to what that "something" was.)  
  
Then Bubbles spoke up. "What was that you called it, Bumblebee? 'Perf'... 'Perfa'... What was that word?"  
  
"I said 'perforated'," the Micropuff Girl explained. "You know, like the perforation on a cereal box, where it says 'Tear on the dotted--'"  
  
Bumblebee stopped as she realized what she'd said. "THAT'S IT!" Blossom exclaimed. "Bumblebee, can you punch holes, real close to each other, in a circle on that globe?"  
  
"But then she'd have to go back in there!" Bubbles protested. "What if Mojo Jojo sees her?"  
  
"He won't," Buttercup replied. "Not if we're on the other side of the thing, acting like we're attacking it!"  
  
Blossom looked at the smallest Powerpuff Girl and asked, "Bumblebee, this is gonna be dangerous. Are you okay with going back in there?"  
  
"Just promise me one thing," the Micropuff Girl demanded. "If Mojo Jojo points that infernal gun at any of you, you all scatter!"  
  
"And if he points that awful thing at you, you get out on the double!" Bubbles replied. 


	15. A Deadly Mistake

The Powerpuff Girls flew to the Mojobot, which was nearly at City Hall now. Mojo Jojo was taunting Townsville citizens with his invincible machine, watching them scatter under him.  
  
The three veteran Powerpuffs flew to the front of the globe and resumed their attack. Bumblebee approached the rear of the command module. Part of her dreaded the thought of going anywhere near that shrinking device, but she knew what she had to do if they were going to stop Mojo.  
  
As Buttercup, Blossom and Bubbles continued their vain assault, Bumblebee flew into the back of the globe. As soon as she entered Mojo's control center, she flew back out, making another hole. Bumblebee realized she didn't have much time, so she turned up the speed of her work. The Micropuff Girl smashed through the surface of the globe over and over like a sewing machine, keeping the holes as close as she could to each other.  
  
Bumblebee could see her fellow Powerpuff unleashing their powers on the front of Mojo's robot; she could also hear Mojo's maniacal laughter. "Good," thought the miniscule girl, "keep up the commotion, all of you!" She couldn't tell how much noise she was making -- or rather, how much a normal-sized person would hear -- so anything that masked the sound was welcome.  
  
The Micropuff Girl was about half done when Buttercup screamed, "Think you're so big just because you shrank us, huh, Mojo? Well, you're NOT SO BIG!!" Then Blossom joined in, "Yeah, you creep, you're NOT SO BIG!!" It took a moment, but Bumblebee realized they were yelling at her, telling her not to make the circle so big; the taunting at Mojo Jojo was just to cover the real reason for their yelling. The smallest Powerpuff strained to increase her speed. Maybe her fellow heroines didn't know why she was making the opening so wide, but she knew.  
  
About two minutes later, Bumblebee was almost done with her work. Suddenly, she heard a blast from the front of the Mojobot. She could see that Mojo Jojo had knocked all three of the sisters down with one of his blasters. As she punched the last few holes in the plastic shell, she saw her enemy rotate the weapons arsenal so the shrinking ray was pointing at the fallen Powerpuffs.  
  
"You moron!" the Micropuff Girl thought. "Give your stupid gizmo a rest!" As much as she feared shrinking any smaller, she couldn't just let Mojo Jojo reduce her comrades to specks.  
  
Mojo had left the control panel unattended to fire his weapons, so Bumblebee saw her chance. She flew to the control device and pushed it forward as far as it would go. Mojo stumbled and yelled as the Mojobot lurched forward, almost toppling over. Quickly, Bumblebee flew to the other side of the joystick and pushed it back. The destruction machine leaned backwards this time, and Mojo Jojo slid along the floor to the opposite end of the compartment.  
  
Bumblebee felt relieved. She had separated her nemesis from his weapon -- or so she thought. As she flew to the side of the joystick to continue her assault, a gloved hand grabbed the control rod, trapping the tiny girl.  
  
Slowly the hand moved down the joystick until Bumblebee's head and torso appeared. The Micropuff Girl swallowed hard as she saw Mojo Jojo towering over her like a mountain. When she saw the shrinking ray in his free hand, she realized her enemy must have grabbed the gun before the Mojobot was knocked backwards.  
  
"So you are the one Buttercup referred to as Bumblebee!" Mojo sneered. "I salute you, that one so diminutive as you could have broken into my Ultimate Mojobot when those cursed Powerpuff Girls failed! But I must inform you that your first attempt to fight me, Mojo Jojo, shall also be your LAST! For if you have caused this much damage at your current infinitesimal size, the only way to deal with you--" (the monkey pointed his weapon at the Micropuff Girl) "--is to reduce you to such a size that you shall never trouble me or anyone else again!!" 


	16. A Desperate Gambit

Bumblebee couldn't understand what was happening to her; or rather, she understood what was going on, but not why: She was remarkably calm. She was about to be shrunk to nothing by her arch-enemy. She had no way of escape, and no way of fighting back that would be effective before the weapon did its work. The three other Powerpuff Girls might very well have been knocked out cold. Clearly this was the end. The Micropuff Girl thought that her heart would be leaping out of her chest, that she'd be trembling hard enough to shake the Mojobot to its legs, that even at her tiny size she'd be sweating buckets. Instead, she was watching calmly as Mojo Jojo squeezed the trigger that would seal her doom.  
  
The world seemed to move in slow motion as Bumblebee's mind took in her situation. Any other time, she would have chosen from two possible courses of action: stand and fight, or retreat. But this time, a third option shone through.  
  
"Hey, Mojo!" the Micropuff Girl yelled. "I was wondering. How come you're wasting a shot from your new ray gun on me? You've got me trapped. I have no means of escape. Why don't you just press your finger against my body and squash me?"  
  
The finger on the trigger stopped; Bumblebee wondered how close the weapon was to shrinking her. "What manner of insanity is this?" Mojo yelled. "If I crush you now, you will die, and your life will be over because that is what happens when one dies! But if I shrink you, you shall have a fighting chance for life! True, you will be the size of a virus, but you will still have a fighting chance for life! Why would you make such an insane suggestion?!"  
  
"Guess I'm just dumb," Bumblebee replied with a shrug of her shoulders. "I couldn't help but wonder, though. The Powerpuff Girls always find a way to bust in on your plans. You don't want to fire that thing and only shrink two of them, do you? Why waste the energy in that gun when you'll need it later?"  
  
The Micropuff Girl could see that Mojo had been thrown for a loop by her line of reasoning. She realized that she might have a chance of escaping. Bumblebee started to slip her legs up from under the finger that had her pinned down. Once again, she was thankful for her minute size: Her captor could hardly feel her moving with his gloved finger.  
  
Bumblebee had just worked herself free when Mojo Jojo fixed his attention on her once again. "I fail to understand why you would sacrifice yourself in this way," the simian confessed, "but there is a crude but unarguable wisdom to your suggestion, Would-Be-Powerpuff Bumblebee! Now, if you will remain still, I, Mojo Jojo, shall squash you quickly, so that you might not suffer."  
  
Mojo was moving one of his fingers closer to Bumblebee... "much too close" the newest Powerpuff thought. In a split second, she flew off the joystick and zipped to the front of the command globe. Mojo Jojo looked startled. "What is the meaning of this?" he asked with anger in his voice. "How could you not accept a merciful, quick death that was offered you, when you know that I, Mojo Jojo, shall now destroy you with much torment and anguish on your part?"  
  
The Micropuff Girl flew to Mojo's ear and shouted, "I'm miffed 'cause you called me a 'Would-Be-Powerpuff'!" Mojo Jojo reeled from the volume of Bumblebee's shout. Flying to the enemy's back -- she didn't want him to have a clear shot at her -- Bumblebee added, "Maybe I should call you a 'Would-Be-Super-Villain' and see how much you like that!"  
  
Mojo's face twisted into a mask of anger as he realized he'd been suckered. Lifting his shrinking gun, he snarled, "Your request for mercy is forfeited, Bumbleflea! Be prepare to suffer agony and misery at the hands of Mojo Jojo!"  
  
The smallest Powerpuff zipped to the weapons arsenal and taunted her enemy: "I'd watch how I fired that thing if I were you. Miss me and you'll be firing the weapons in your arsenal with tweezers and toothpicks!"  
  
To Bumblebee's surprise, Mojo fired his weapon without hesitation. She darted away, barely avoiding the shrinking energy. The Micropuff Girl looked back and gasped: the orange aura had dissipated on Mojo's arsenal without affecting it in any way.  
  
"MWA-HA-HA-HA!!" Mojo Jojo's laugh filled the chamber. "Too late you learn, Stumblebee, that Mojo's weapons arsenal has been treated with the same titanium alloy with which I built this robot, and it is resistant to the effects of Mojo's shrinking ray! Mojo Jojo's Ultimate Mojobot is in no danger from this ray gun!" The monkey pointed it at Bumblebee and grinned. "It is most regrettable that the same cannot be said for you!"  
  
Reality was setting in for Bumblebee. Her bluff had bought her a few minutes, but now Mojo had his gun trained on her and was in no mood to negotiate. The Micropuff Girl realized she needed a way out... and fast. 


	17. To the rescue!

Mojo's attention was diverted by a loud crash coming from behind him, followed by the dull "thud" of a plastic circle hitting the floor. "What? Who!" yelled Mojo as he spun around.  
  
"NOT SO FAST, MOJO JOJO!" yelled Blossom, Buttercup and Bubbles. Their plan had worked, and the circle had popped out under the combined thrust of the three Girls. Bumblebee could not think of any time she had been so happy to see anyone.  
  
Mojo swung his weapon around to fire on the trio. Bumblebee saw her chance, so she darted to the control rod and slammed into it, pushing it hard to the left. The Mojobot lurched to the side, once again tottering over the streets of downtown Townsville. Mojo Jojo and the veteran Powerpuff Girls went sprawling; the shrinking ray fell from Mojo's grip and went to the side of the command globe.  
  
The Powerpuff Girls made quick work of their enemy. Disarmed of his newest toy, Mojo Jojo was no match for the Girls, even at their reduced size. Buttercup gave Mojo a hard right to the jaw, followed by Bubbles throwing her shoulder into the monkey's midsection. Blossom then gave the simian an uppercut to his jaw. Then the sisters fell back to let Bumblebee strike the final blow. The smallest Powerpuff flew up to Mojo Jojo, yelled, "'Would-Be-Powerpuff', huh?", and delivered a solid punch to his nose. The villain spun around, and then collapsed to the side of the globe, muttering "Curses!" as he fell.  
  
When Mojo hit the wall of the sphere, the Mojobot started to sway; the device was already leaning hard to the side, and Mojo's weight was just enough to send it over the edge. "Bumblebee!" Blossom yelled. "Get this thing level again!"  
  
The Micropuff Girl flew to the underside of the control rod and pushed up on it. To her surprise, the joystick wouldn't budge! "The control's stuck!" Bumblebee yelled. "I must have jammed it when I pushed it down!"  
  
"See if you can un-jam it!" replied Buttercup as she and Bubbles lifted Mojo Jojo. "This thing's about to topple onto City Hall!"  
  
Bumblebee flew to the floor, and then zoomed as fast as she could to the control stick. As she made contact, she pushed the rod with all of her strength. The control moved up under the force of Bumblebee's power. Unfortunately, it moved up about twenty feet, bouncing off the ceiling of the globe and settling on the weapon controls. "Oh, FOOEY!" yelled Bumblebee as she saw that she had snapped the control from its housing.  
  
It was only a second later that the Mojobot started lurching, first forward, then to the side, and then in every direction imaginable (and a few unimaginable). Mojo's weapon of destruction seemed to be going in a dozen directions at once as the Girls tried to make their escape.  
  
"Bubbles! Buttercup!" Blossom yelled. "Can you get Mojo through that hole Bumblebee made?"  
  
Letting their actions do the talking, the duo carried their foe to the opening in the plastic sphere. The monkey's head got banged a few times as they tried to navigate the ever-contorting device; but after about six tries they squeezed Mojo through.  
  
As Blossom flew through the opening, she called back, "Bumblebee! Make tracks! This thing's about to blow!" But the Micropuff Girl had one more matter to tend to.  
  
  
Far overhead, Blossom surveyed the scene. The Mojobot was staggering for the last time as it leaned over City Hall. "Sorry, Mr. Mayor!" the red-haired Girl sighed as the giant machine collapsed onto the building.  
  
Moments later, Buttercup and Bubbles joined her. "Well, the police were happy to take Mojo Jojo off our hands," the black-haired Powerpuff reported.  
  
"Now all we have to do is figure out how we can get back to normal size!" her blonde-haired sister added. "You and Bumblebee better come home with us. The Professor'll know what to do!"  
  
Blossom looked at her sisters in shock. "I thought Bumblebee was with you two!"  
  
"She wasn't with us," Buttercup replied. "We haven't seen her since we got out of the--"  
  
The sisters looked down at the mangled wreckage of the Mojobot, crumpled into the roof of City Hall. "Oh, no!" gasped Bubbles. 


	18. Bumblebee's Fate

Buttercup, Bubbles and Blossom zoomed down to the smashed roof of City Hall, looking carefully over the remains of the giant robot. "BUMBLEBEE!" Blossom yelled, "WHERE ARE YOU?"  
  
From the base of the machine came the Micropuff Girl's voice. "I'm right here!" she called out. "I'm next to the Mojobot's left foot!"  
  
The trio sped to the sound of their comrade's voice. Sure enough, Bumblebee was standing on a part of the roof that Mojo's machine hadn't destroyed. Bubbles zoomed down and picked up the Micropuff Girl. "Thank goodness you're all right!" the blue-clad Girl said.  
  
"You really had us worried!" Buttercup added.  
  
"Well, you shouldn't have worried!" Bumblebee laughed. "It'll take more than one lousy machine to take Bumblebee out of a fight!"  
  
The Girls all laughed. Then Blossom spoke up, "Hey, Bumblebee! Why did you make the circle in the plastic so big? Did you know we'd have to get Mojo out of there?"  
  
Bumblebee floated out of Bubbles' hands. "Well, no," she replied, "that wasn't the reason I made it the size I did."  
  
"Oh, okay," said Buttercup with a smile. "So I guess you thought we should have left Mojo Jojo in there when his device was about to crash."  
  
The Micropuff Girl scowled at Buttercup. Putting her hands on her hips, she retorted, "Heck, no! I figured Mojo had an escape hatch for himself! I never would have left him there! Just because someone's evil and trying to destroy you and your town, doesn't mean it's all right to stand by and let him die!!"  
  
Buttercup reached out and took her indignant teammate in her hands. "You know, Bumblebee," she chuckled, "you are gonna make a really good Powerpuff Girl!" Bumblebee softened as she realized her fellow heroine was just testing her.  
  
Blossom asked once again, "So why DID you make that circle so big? All you needed to do was make it about four inches wide, and all three of us could've gotten in just fine!"  
  
At that, the Micropuff Girl flew to a spot on the roof. "I made it so big because I figured that would come in handy!" After a moment, Bumblebee uncovered Mojo's shrinking ray and held it up.  
  
"Yikes!" Bubbles yelled. "What makes you think we'd ever want to see THAT again?!"  
  
Setting the gun back down, Bumblebee answered, "Well, if this switch does what I think it does, we probably all want to use it right now!" The veteran Powerpuffs flew over the gigantic gun as their tiniest member pushed a switch on its side from the REDUCE setting to its RESTORE mode. "All right," the Micropuff Girl asked, "who wants to be the first to get big again?"  
  
Blossom flew down to Bumblebee and grabbed her. "You didn't need to ask!" the Powerpuff leader replied. "The first one to grow again is YOU!" Blossom carried the flea-sized girl to an open spot on the roof. Then she flew back to the gun and grabbed the trigger. With Bubbles aiming and Buttercup steadying the barrel, Blossom fired the weapon on the Micropuff Girl.  
  
The blue energy from the ray shooter surrounded Bumblebee. Slowly at first, then more quickly, the Micropuff Girl grew back to her height of two inches. "All right!" she yelled joyfully. "That didn't even hurt this time! I may never play center for the Tennessee Lady Vols, but it's great to be this size again!" (Bumblebee didn't have to fake being exuberant. After a day of constantly shrinking or getting threatened with shrinking, it felt wonderful to grow!)  
  
The veteran Powerpuff Girls set the weapon down and grinned at their new member. "All right," Bumblebee asked, "who gets to grow now?"  
  
"No one!" replied Buttercup.  
  
"Wait a minute," the Micropuff Girl exclaimed as her teammates came nearer to her, "you guys want to get big again, don't you?"  
  
"Guess not!" Bubbles retorted.  
  
Blossom explained, "Since this is the only time we're gonna be your size, we wanted to give you something to thank you for the way you helped us save the day so many times today. Bubbles, Buttercup, what are we gonna give our sister Bumblebee?"  
  
"GROUP HUG!!" the threesome shouted as they wrapped their arms around their yellow-clad comrade.  
  
Bumblebee was overjoyed. This was better than a dream come true! "B-Blossom," she gasped as she reached her arms around the pink-clad Powerpuff Girl, "you called me your sister!"  
  
"That's right," Blossom replied, "you're a Powerpuff Girl, and that means you're a sister to all three of us!"  
  
As Bumblebee reached to hug Buttercup, the green-clad heroine added, "And sisters are always sisters, so even when you go back to your own world you'll still be our sister, forever and ever!"  
  
The Micropuff Girl heard Bubbles add, "And we hope that won't be for a long time! We all like having our tiny little sister here with us!"  
  
As Bumblebee hugged Bubbles, it was all she could do to keep from crying for happiness. But it wouldn't do to cry there; Buttercup would get mad at her for doing something so sissy. The Girls were letting go, so Bumblebee whispered, "I love you guys," and then spoke up to say, "but we need to get the three of you back to your full size again. 'Less, of course, you want your friends to play long-distance catch with YOU next recess!"  
  
"I don't think so!" exclaimed Blossom. "One Micropuff Girl is enough!"  
  
Bubbles and Buttercup returned to their positions on Mojo's ray gun. With Bumblebee on the trigger, they returned Blossom to her full size. The Powerpuff leader then easily restored Bubbles and Buttercup to their normal sizes.  
  
"There's one thing left to do now," Blossom announced as she set the device down. Bumblebee flew to eye level with her sister Powerpuffs, and the foursome fired their lasers on the weapon, melting it to a puddle of slag.  
  
  
The Girls flew back towards their suburban home. "Hey, Bumblebee," Blossom asked, "you're not mad 'cause we didn't shoot you a second time to make you our size, are you?"  
  
"I didn't even think of that!" the Micropuff Girl replied. "The setting on that ray was 'Restore', not 'Enlarge'! I figured if you fired on me again it would just waste the energy!"  
  
"Yeah, that's what we figured, too," Buttercup confirmed.  
  
"And, besides," Bubbles added, "if you got big like us, Florina's magic might have worn out and then you'd have to go home!"  
  
The Micropuff Girl repressed a grin at her comrades' excuses. She knew what they were trying not to say: that the three of them enjoyed having a doll-sized friend to play with. A friend... and comrade... and sister. Bumblebee was still in awe that they had called her their sister.  
  
The foursome reached the Utonium home. Bubbles, Buttercup and Blossom landed at the front door; Blossom held out her right hand, and Bumblebee took the hint and landed on it.  
  
"I think we should tell the Professor about you now, Bumblebee," Blossom said as she reached for the doorknob. Suddenly she stopped and looked at her diminutive teammate. "Bumblebee," she asked, "what's wrong?"  
  
The Micropuff Girl noticed immediately what Blossom was talking about. Her body was vibrating all over, like an electric buzzer. And the vibration was growing stronger by the second. A ringing was building in Bumblebee's ears, a ringing like a thousand church bells.  
  
Buttercup exclaimed, "Mojo's ray gun! We shouldn't have used it on Bumblebee! Now her body's unstable!!"  
  
Bubbles stepped over to Bumblebee and pleaded, "Fight it, Bumblebee! Don't leave us now! We want you to stay with us! Please, please don't go!!"  
  
The Micropuff Girl concentrated with every ounce of willpower she had. But the quaking and ringing continued to grow. She looked up and saw the concerned faces of Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup watching her.  
  
That was the last sight she beheld before darkness overtook her. 


	19. All a dream?

Andrea rolled over in her bed. She reached to the nightstand and shut off her alarm clock.  
  
Andie sat on the edge of her bed and gathered her thoughts. She was home in her own bedroom in her own house now. She was as tall as a really short fifth grader, not the size of a Polly Pocket doll. Andie didn't bother testing them; she knew her Powerpuff abilities were gone.  
  
Her adventure was over. Bumblebee was just Andrea now.  
  
Andie's thoughts were interrupted by a knock on her bedroom door. "Andie, dear," her grandmother said, "time to get up! You must have really been tired last night, honey. That alarm clock must have rang for at least five minutes!"  
  
"Sorry, Grandma," Andrea replied softly. "I guess I was sleeping pretty soundly."  
  
The older woman stepped into the room and put a small magazine on Andrea's desk. "You fell asleep reading your comic book," she continued, "so I took it off your bed for you and tucked you in." Stepping out of the room, she added, "Anyway, you'd best come down and have breakfast now. You want to be at your best for your science test today!"  
  
Andie sighed as her grandmother walked down the hallway. "So it was all a dream," she thought. "A dream I had because I was reading a Powerpuff Girls comic book when I went to sleep." Andie started to get ready for the day ahead. The adventure was fun, she thought, but now she was back in the real world. The world of Glenwood School. Science tests. Derek Stiles and Betty Harper. And the twenty dollars they'd be demanding of her that morning.  
  
As she finished getting dressed, Andie noticed a small bit of paper on the floor next to her bed. She knelt down and picked it up to get a better look at it. The tiny scrap had some writing on it, almost too miniscule to read...  
  
Andie's heart started pounding as she got out a magnifying glass from her desk and examined the writing. She could just make out the words, "vertically-challenged supernaturally-empowered female emergency caregiver". She was holding the tiny card Florina had tossed aside when she had introduced herself the night before! Andrea realized it hadn't been just a dream; all of her adventure had really happened!  
  
The petite fifth grader grabbed her book bag and headed down to the kitchen. Yesterday, Stiles and Harper had threatened Andrea Ant. Today, they were going to answer to Bumblebee! 


	20. The Sting of the Bumblebee

Andie kissed her mother and grandmother goodbye and headed out the front door. Natalie was waiting at the front of her house, so the smaller girl ran out to her. Andrea noticed that Nattie looked worried.  
  
As Andie ran up to her friend, she gave her a hug. "Wow," Natalie commented, "you sure are in a good mood today! Why are you so cheerful this morning?"  
  
"You are not gonna believe what happened to me last night!" Andrea replied.  
  
"I hope it included getting twenty bucks," Nattie remarked. "I had to get an advance on my allowance just to pay this week."  
  
"Hey, that's great," Andie said. "Maybe we can get ice cream after school!"  
  
"ANDIE!" Natalie shouted. "Don't you remember what Derek Stiles and Betty Harper told us yesterday?"  
  
"Yup!" Andrea replied. "But I'm not gonna pay them! And you know what? Neither are you!"  
  
Nattie stared at her friend as they walked along. "This thing that happened to you last night... did it involve men in white coats putting you in a nice padded cell?"  
  
"Very funny," the smaller girl replied. "Truth is, last night I became Bumblebee!"  
  
"Oh, that makes sense," Natalie remarked. "Let's see, that's a little bug that Stiles would squash under his foot if it tried anything funny."  
  
"Oh, maybe," Andrea replied. "Then again, maybe it's a little bug that got so tired of getting squashed that it decided to sting instead!"  
  
"Andrea," Natalie intoned, "I hope you're not planning to do something really stupid."  
  
"Don't worry," Bumblebee replied. "All I'm gonna do is something somebody should have done long ago."  
  
The two petite girls rounded the corner onto the school grounds. There on the edge of the lawn were Derek Stiles and Betty Harper. Derek was pushing a stout boy's face into the grass as Betty stood over the two. Beside them were about two dozen other frightened boys and girls. Andrea recognized the overweight boy as Greg Combs.  
  
"Hey, look! It's the flea circus!" Derek yelled as he saw Andrea and Natalie. "If you two know what's good for you, you'll stay there until you pay up!" The bully looked at Greg and said, "Tubby here didn't want to pay the full ten bucks. He said," Derek taunted in a mock whiny voice, "he was hungry!" Then the bully pushed Greg's face into the grass and sneered, "Well, let's make sure he gets plenty to eat! C'mon, cow! Chew your cud, cow! We don't want the big fat cow to go hungry, now do we? C'mon, cow!! Chew your cud so you can make lots of milk, you big fat blubber-faced cow!!"  
  
Andrea took off her backpack and ran up to Derek as fast as she could. She ran into the bully, planting her shoulder into the boy's ribs. "OWW!" yelled Derek as he tumbled to the ground.  
  
Andie heard some gasps as she helped Greg up. No one -- not even Betty, she noticed -- could believe what she had just done. She knew better than to turn her back on Derek Stiles, so she kept her eye on him.  
  
Sure enough, the bully got up and approached her. "That was really stupid, shrimp girl," Derek snarled.  
  
"Go jump in the lake, Pig Stiles," Andrea replied.  
  
The students around them giggled at Andie's insult, but quieted after a fierce look from Derek. The boy raced at Andrea, arms poised to strike. Andrea dodged him as he threw a punch at her. The bully reached out and leaned over, trying to connect his next hit. Andrea dodged his fist; then, before the bully could pull back, Andie gave him a good solid blow to his left cheek.  
  
Not even Andrea could believe what happened then.  
  
Derek clutched his cheek and dropped to his knees on the grass. "YOU HIIIIIIT MEEEEEEE!!!" he screamed, tears running down his cheeks.  
  
"Oh, knock it off!" Andrea snapped. "I didn't hit you all THAT hard!" She looked around to see everyone staring at Derek Stiles, open-mouthed. No one could believe he was acting like that.  
  
"BET - TEEE!!" Derek cried to Betty Harper. "GET HER!!!"  
  
Betty approached Andrea. "You're - You're in big trouble, you little... I mean--"  
  
Andrea knew that her former friend didn't feel comfortable fighting her, or even insulting her. She realized she didn't really want to fight Betty either. Andie had a hunch. She turned to the tall girl and yelled, "Yeah, Betty! Some friend you were! You stopped being my friend to hang out with the biggest crybaby in the school! Well I hope you're proud of choosing Crybaby Derek over me!" Andie looked at Derek and continued, "Yeah, I'm little! I'd rather be two inches tall than hang around with THAT!!" She stepped over to the crying bully and sneered, in the same tone he had used the day before, "What do you know? They not make Pampers big enough for big baby Derek to wear, either!"  
  
"SHUT UP!!" Derek screamed through tears.  
  
Andie looked at Betty Harper. She could tell her words had struck her harder than any punch or kick could have.  
  
Andrea looked at Derek and added, "Oh, I almost forgot." She reached into his shirt pocket and forcefully yanked out a small roll of bills.  
  
"OWWWWWW!!" the bully wailed.  
  
Andrea turned away from the bullies and walked to Greg. "I think this belongs to you," she said, handing the money to her friend.  
  
"Uhh... Thanks, Andie," Greg replied, taking the cash that Derek had taken from him moments earlier.  
  
Andrea approached the crowd of students. "Did any of you pay anything to those guys today?" she asked. When everyone shook his or her head "no", Andie told them, "Okay, no sense in us all being late for class." She turned her head to the bullies and said, "Let's leave the crybaby with his friend."  
  
"I'LL GET YOU ALL FOR THIS!!" Derek shouted through his crying. By now all his victims were walking off.  
  
Natalie cut through the crowd to get back to her friend's side. "Andie," Nattie gasped, "just what DID happen to you last night??" 


	21. Some people don't know when to quit...

"That is so crazy!" Natalie exclaimed as she walked down the steps with Andrea at the end of the school day. "I can hardly believe you got to go to Townsville and be a real Powerpuff Girl!"  
  
"Not just a Powerpuff Girl... Andie was a Micropuff Girl!" Andrea turned to see her friend Joyce standing on the other side of her. "That must have been frightening, being only two inches tall!"  
  
Andrea replied, "Well, maybe it would have been scary if I'd had to tackle a giant rat as soon as I got there. I guess it was kind of lucky that I got used to being so small before I had to fight anyone."  
  
"Maybe that fairy godmother made sure you wouldn't be hit with a monster right away," Andie's classmate Debbie spoke up from behind them.  
  
"I can hardly believe you have a fairy godmother!" their classmate Julie added. "All these years we heard those fairy tales, and now that we're too old to believe them it turns out they're true!"  
  
Greg added, "No wonder you could stand up to Derek Stiles this morning. If you could be the size of a cricket and still fight a dinosaur, Stiles must have looked like small potatoes!"  
  
Their fellow fifth grader Nicky added, "Or being the size of a flea and facing Mojo Jojo! Now THAT took some real courage!!"  
  
Andrea looked around at the crowd of students around her. Perhaps twenty fifth graders were with her, and a lot of fourth and third graders as well! "Uh, Natalie," she asked, "just how many people DID you tell about my adventure?"  
  
"I only told about six or seven people," Natalie replied. "But you gotta figure, they probably told six or seven people each--"  
  
"--and then they told six or seven people each," Andie cut in, "and so on, and so on. Oh well, I guess it was a pretty exciting adventure!"  
  
"PRETTY exciting?!" The friends turned to see Amy, standing with her twin sister Jamie. "That adventure had us both on the edge of our seats!"  
  
Jamie added, "Yeah, Andie! Can you come over to our house this afternoon? We wanna hear the whole story from you!"  
  
The crowd had just reached the edge of the playground, when Derek Stiles stepped out from behind the tall slide. "Hold it right there, Bumblebug!" he yelled at Andie.  
  
Andrea was prepared for the bully; she had figured he would try something after school. "Hey, everybody," she called out, "it's Pig Stiles! What's the matter, Pig Stiles, didn't you learn your lesson this morning?"  
  
Derek stepped over to the sidewalk, blocking her path. "Think you're hot stuff just because you had some dream about a bunch of sissy cartoon girls, huh? I sure hope for your sake that you've got that ten dollars I told you to have for me... ALL of you!"  
  
"Aw, gee, Derek," Andie replied, "I guess I don't have ten for you." She made a fist and stepped toward the bully. "But I'll tell you what, crybaby, if you like I'll give you five like I did before school!"  
  
The crowd behind Andrea started jeering Derek: "Look at the crybaby!" "Go home to Mommy, crybaby!" "Go get your Pampers changed!" The bully gave them all a fierce look, but this time it had no effect on the crowd of his former victims.  
  
Undaunted, Derek yelled at his challenger, "You think you're some sort of hero because you landed a lucky punch on me this morning! Well, Powderpuff Shrimp, let's see how you do against the two of us!" The tall boy motioned with his left hand, and Betty Harper stepped out from the slide and started walking toward Andrea. 


	22. Choose your friends wisely

The crowd booed at the bully's cowardly act. Andrea knew she couldn't back down now, as much as she hated the thought of fighting her former friend. As Andie watched Betty approach, however, she realized all was not as it seemed. Andrea knew Betty well, and her face, her walk, the way she held her body... none of it indicated that the taller girl was about to fight. Andrea held up her right hand and gave a quick wave. The students behind her stopped their jeering.  
  
"I sure hope you're ready to fight, two against one," Betty yelled as she reached Andrea. The tall girl was standing to Andie's right when she spun around to face Derek Stiles. "You hear me, crybaby? You lift a finger against Andrea and you'll answer to ME!"  
  
Derek looked at Betty, in shock that his partner was switching sides. Recovering, he yelled, "Suits me fine, you traitor! I'll take you on and make you sorry you turned on me!"  
  
"Suits me fine right back!" Andrea retorted. "You try anything against Betty, and I'll kick you all the way back to your nursery!" Andie realized that this was too good an opportunity to pass up. She turned to Natalie and motioned for her to join them. Natalie looked confused, so Andie nodded her head in confirmation.  
  
"Who cares, shr-shrimp girl?" Derek shot back. As Andrea turned back to him, she could tell he was losing his nerve. "I'll - I'll put both of you six feet under!"  
  
Betty gasped and put the back of her right hand on her forehead. "Oh, no, Andie!" she shrieked. "He's gonna drown us in six feet of tears! We'd better learn to swim!" The former victims of the bully broke out in laughter at the tall girl's jest.  
  
"Give it up, Stiles," Andrea repeated. "You can't beat either of us alone! You take us both on, YOU'LL be the one they pick up off the sidewalk!"  
  
"And if you do luck out and beat both of them, you'll answer to ME!" Andrea and Betty turned to see that Natalie had joined them in standing up to Derek Stiles.  
  
The three girls walked towards the bully, who was slowly retreating from them. The trio had only gone a few steps when the rest of the students ran up to join them. Led by Andrea, the group started to overtake Derek. The tall boy turned and ran, to the taunts and jeers of his former victims.  
  
"Way to go, Andie!" Natalie cried, patting her friend on the back.  
  
"'Way to go, all of us', you mean!" Andie corrected her. "We won because we all banded together against that creep!"  
  
"There's just one more thing we have to take care of," Betty spoke up.  
  
"And what would that be?" Andrea asked (although she knew what Betty was about to say.)  
  
Betty Harper began, "Well, I did something really stupid awhile ago. I got really big last summer, and I, uh, kind of turned my back on my friends and hung around with this real idiot, just because we were both real big. And I," she looked guiltily at the boys and girls she'd bullied, and continued, "I said and did a lot of things that hurt a lot of people. Anyway, then one of my best friends, who was really small, and who got even smaller recently, showed me what a jerk I'd turned into."  
  
The tall girl looked at Andrea and said, "I guess what I want to say is, I'm really sorry about how I've been acting this whole year, and I was wondering if maybe we could, you know... be friends again?"  
  
Andie looked up at Betty for a moment. Then she said, "Well, I'm gonna have to think this over. Can I let you know in a day or two?" The tall girl looked sad for a moment... until Andrea smiled warmly at her and threw her arms around her in a hug. Betty returned her friend's embrace as the boys and girls around them gathered to welcome their new friend. 


	23. A Final Farewell?

A week and a half had passed since Andrea had had her adventure as Bumblebee. It was a Saturday afternoon, and Betty Harper was walking with Andrea and Natalie to her house for a party.  
  
"What I don't understand, Betty," Andrea commented, "is why you insisted on walking us to your house instead of just letting our moms drive us there."  
  
"Oh, we've got something special planned for you, Bumblebee," Betty replied with a grin.  
  
"'We', huh?" Andie queried. "Uh, Natalie, I don't suppose YOU know what Betty's talking about, now, do you?"  
  
Barely suppressing a giggle, Natalie changed the subject: "I understand Betty's mom made some special Powerpuff treats for us!" The way Nattie had dodged the question, Andrea knew she was in on whatever Betty had planned. The Micropuff Girl understood Betty was giving a party to make up (at least partly) for the way she had bullied so many of her schoolmates. The tall girl had been secretive about what the party was for, however, or even who had been invited. All Andrea could do was guess.  
  
Natalie spoke up again and asked, "Hey, Andie, we came by for you right around lunch and you weren't home. Where were you right after noon?"  
  
Andie replied, "Sorry I missed you then. I biked over to The Shadow's Sanctum right about that time."  
  
"You went to the comic book store?" Betty asked. "Andie, the newest Powerpuff Girls comic book just came out a week or so ago. The next one won't be in until next month at least!"  
  
"Oh, I was checking out the collectibles; figures and card sets and stuff," Andrea explained. "You'll never believe who I saw there!"  
  
"Mr. Foster?" Natalie suggested.  
  
"DUH!" Andie retorted. "Of course I saw the owner! And by the way, when he saw me he said, 'Hello there, Bumblebee!'"  
  
"He called you Bumblebee?!" gasped Natalie.  
  
"Yeah, a bunch of our friends went there and told him about my adventure," Andrea continued. "And I hope you two got copies of that Powerpuff Girls comic; Mr. Foster said they had a run on that issue and his stock is gone!!" (Andrea noticed that, when she said that, her two friends looked at each other, grinning. The anticipation of what Betty had planned was starting to drive her nuts!)  
  
"So, Andie," Betty asked, "just who DID you see at Shadow's Sanctum?"  
  
"I went to the back where the collectibles are kept, that little room on the side of the store," Andie answered, "and who should be waiting there but Florina!"  
  
"FLORINA?" the two girls cried in unison. Then Natalie added, "You mean your fairy godmother, don't you?"  
  
"That's right!" Andrea replied. "I ran up to her and gave her a big hug--"  
  
"Wait a minute," Betty interrupted. "I thought you told us that Florina was only about three inches tall."  
  
"I wondered about that, too," Andrea explained, "and I asked her about it. She told me, 'Well, dear child, if my magic can make a big girl like you into a wee little Bumblebee, does it not make sense that it can make an old fairy godmother big like you?'" Andie smiled and added, "I guess if you're three inches tall I might look sort of big!"  
  
Betty smiled at her friend and added, "It's just like you and Nattie say all the time," and the trio said in unison, "there's nothing wrong with being kinda small!" The girls all laughed together at that.  
  
After their laughter died down, Natalie asked, "What did Florina come back for?"  
  
Andrea said, "Well, you remember how I left Townsville? The vibrating, the ringing, everything turning black?"  
  
"Yeah," Betty answered. "I'll bet the Powerpuff Girls thought you'd been destroyed like Bunny was that one time!"  
  
"I was afraid of that, too," Andie continued. "Florina opened this book she had, though, and I saw the Girls again!"  
  
"You mean, she had a laptop?" asked Natalie.  
  
"Kind of, but the image was on one piece of paper," Andrea clarified. "Anyway, the Powerpuff Girls were looking out from the page, and when Blossom saw me she called out, 'There she is!' All three of them waved at me and yelled, "Hi, Bumblebee!', and of course I waved back at them.  
  
"After they greeted me, Bubbles said, 'Your, uh, emergency-challenged carefully-empowered... No wait, I mean your naturally-challenged vertically-powered...' Then Buttercup cut in and said, 'Bubbles! Just call her a fairy godmother!' and Bubbles replied, 'Well, that's what she said she was!!'"  
  
The friends all snickered as Andrea continued, "Anyway, Blossom spoke up and said, 'What my sisters are trying to tell you is that Florina appeared to us right after you vanished the other day. She told us that your adventure was over and you were back in your own world, safe and okay. We all just want you to remember that you'll always be the Micropuff Girl, even in your own world!'  
  
"Then Buttercup added, 'And more than that, remember that you're still our sister, and sisters are sisters even when they're far apart!'  
  
"Then it was Bubbles' turn, and she said, 'And remember, we all miss you a lot! Please come back so you can have lots more fun and adventures with us!'  
  
"Florina let me know the time on her spell was almost over, so I told them I loved them all and I'd be watching for their new adventures. I waved them goodbye, they waved me goodbye, and suddenly the page changed back to a still picture."  
  
"Does that mean," Natalie asked, "you might go back someday?"  
  
"I asked Florina about that," Andie replied. "She told me that not even her magic could tell the future like that. But she did tell me, 'If there ever comes a time in which the people of Townsville need The Micropuff Girl once more, perhaps it shall come to pass.'" 


	24. Friends indeed

The friends walked in silence for a few more blocks; they were very close to Betty's home now. Without warning, Betty and Natalie grabbed Andie's arms. Betty shouted, "We're almost at my house now, BUMBLEBEE!!" As the tall girl yelled the Powerpuff name, Andrea heard a rustling in the distance. It was obvious that Betty's yelling of "Bumblebee" was some sort of signal. The sound of giggles and chuckles told Andrea that a good sized number of kids, probably about her own age, were running for cover.  
  
The smallest fifth grader decided enough was enough. "All right, you two," Andrea demanded, "we're close enough that I'm gonna find out in a minute anyway! What's going on??"  
  
A grinning Betty looked down at her petite friend and explained, "It's too late for you to do anything about it now, Bumblebee! You have fallen into our TRAP!"  
  
"That's right, Micropuff Girl!" Natalie chimed in. "A few of us have got a great big bone to pick with the tiny little Powerpuff! We've got you now and there's no escape!"  
  
The whole situation was just so silly, Andie couldn't help but grin. The trio was in front of the Harper home now, and Betty yelled out, "Prisoner ready for interrogation!" From behind every hiding place near the house -- trees, bushes, cars, the sides of the house itself -- boys and girls came running to Andrea and her friends. And every one of them was holding a copy of the latest Powerpuff Girls comic book! Amy and Jamie were each holding two comics, and as they ran up they handed their extra copies to Betty and Natalie.  
  
"Guess what, Andie?" Betty asked as she put her free arm around her friend's shoulder. "The part of your story you've told us till now just won't cut it anymore. From now on, you want to keep all your friends happy with you, you'll tell us all what page of the comic, and what panel, for that matter, you were reading when Florina showed up!"  
  
"And what's more," Debbie added, "you'll tell us all exactly what you were thinking when your fairy godmother first appeared!"  
  
"And after that," Nicky spoke up, "you can put in a good word with Florina about letting some Powerpuff Boys visit Townsville!"  
  
Andrea crossed her arms and tried to appear angry, but she couldn't stop grinning at the silly stunt her friends had pulled. After a moment, she blurted out, "YOU COULDN'T HAVE JUST ASKED ME, NOW, COULD YOU??"  
  
As the group laughed at Andie's comment, the door to Betty's house opened. "Betty?" Mrs. Harper called out. "Perhaps your friends would like to come inside for drinks and cookies!"  
  
  
In the rec room of Betty's house, the boys and girls enjoyed cookies in the shape of the Powerpuff Girls, and a choice of limeade, pink lemonade, or blue raspberry punch. Betty had put on her own "Heroes and Villains" CD, and the music of Shonen Knife was playing.  
  
"Andie," Natalie reminded her friend, "just before we got here, you said that Florina talked with you about one more thing at the comic store. You never told us what she said to you."  
  
Andrea set down her punch and replied, "Florina wanted to ask me what lessons I'd learned from my experience as the Micropuff Girl."  
  
Greg rolled his eyes. "That figures!" he said. "Everything a kid does, some grownup has to turn into a big educational experience instead of just letting us enjoy it!"  
  
"I don't know, Greg," Jamie replied. "There were some okay lessons I learned just from hearing Andie's adventure. Like, just because you're small doesn't mean you can't make a difference."  
  
Julie added, "Seems to me another lesson is that standing up to your enemies is half the battle; in fact sometimes that's all it takes to win!"  
  
Andie got up and stood behind Betty's chair. Putting her arms around the bigger girl, she added, "One of the best lessons is that you don't always defeat your enemy by punching her lights out. Sometimes you defeat her by making her your friend."  
  
Natalie called out, "Now THAT'S the best lesson of all!" The other boys and girls voiced their agreement.  
  
As Andrea returned to her chair, she grinned. "Well, there WAS one lesson I learned that was even better than that!" she said.  
  
"Really? What was it?" Nicky asked.  
  
"Can't you guess?" Andrea teased.  
  
"C'mon, tell us!" her friends all asked.  
  
Andie looked around the room and drew a deep breath. "The most important lesson of all is this," she started. After a pause, she grinned and told the group, "It is better to have been a tiny little Powerpuff Girl for a day, than never to have been a tall!!"  
  
(It was later on that Andie learned that the people two houses down heard the groans.)  
  
  
THE END 


End file.
